


Triad

by artsy_alice



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe, Implied Sexual Content, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, Pre-OT3, lots of AUs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-12-16 10:09:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11826537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artsy_alice/pseuds/artsy_alice
Summary: A series of AU drabbles and one-shots for Mira, Freed and Laxus.





	1. Sleepless

**Author's Note:**

> This AU dump took me a good while. I always wanted to write something with the Freed-Mira-Laxus team because I think they're a great combination. Like 'Between You' (Natsu/Lucy/Loke), this fic is a collection of stuff with the three. Not all of it involve a poly relationship but each story has a slightly different character dynamic between them.

.

"It's eleven, are you sure you still want coffee?" Laxus asked from the couch, looking up from the magazine he was flipping through.

"Yes." Freed answered, sitting on their dining table, face buried in his laptop, piles of books and papers around him.

Laxus looked pointedly at Mira, who shrugged helplessly as she laid a cup of coffee in front of their busy housemate.

"Thanks, Mira." Freed said softly.

"Anytime, honey." the woman smiled and pat his shoulder before heading over to join Laxus in the living room. The blonde shifted so Mira can curl up beside him and join his reading.

Laxus whispered, "You should've told 'im we got no coffee left. What time did he sleep yesterday?"

Mira frowned and whispered back. "I don't even know if he slept."

"I'm pretty sure he was with us when we woke up."

"Yes, but then he woke up too. And went to class."

Laxus groaned.

They finished flipping through three more boring magazines (Who even owned this stuff? Maybe Evergreen left it last time.) before they realized it was midnight.

Mira nudged Laxus, who raised an eyebrow at the gesture. "Go talk to him. Tell him to take a break."

Laxus sighed, but didn't complain as he passed the magazines to her and stood up to stage a much-needed intervention.

It was midnight, Freed knew. He heard the soft chime from his phone that alerted him of the calender date changing. It was midnight and he still wasn't finished and there was someone massaging his shoulders and it feels really good-

"We're going to bed, Freed." he heard Laxus's voice from behind him. "You should, too."

"No, not yet, I... I'll just finish this." he said, but couldn't help but sigh as the other man's hands eased some of the tension from his shoulders.

"And how long would that take?"

Freed didn't look up from his paperwork. "Um… soon. You should go ahead."

Laxus sighed and rolled his eyes, but leaned down to leave a kiss on Freed's forehead before withdrawing.

He turned towards Mira and simply shrugged before heading towards the bedroom. Mira followed a few minutes later.

It was 1 AM when Freed felt soft, gentle arms wrap around his neck, and Mira's chin tucked on his shoulder. "Still not done?" the woman asked, voice laced with sleep.

"Soon, Mira." came Freed's answer. "Go back to bed. You've got an early start tomorrow-… err, later."

Mira clung to him tighter. "But we can't sleep without you..."

"I can literally hear Laxus snoring."

"Well, I can't sleep."

"I'll join you soon."

"How soon?"

"Real soon."

"Freeeeeed... Let's go sleeeeep..."

"I promise I'll go to bed in a few."

Mira pouted. Freed stopped for a moment and turned towards her, knowing she was making a face. He smiled softly and gave her a soft fleeting kiss on her lips. "Sweet dreams, love."

The woman only sighed before withdrawing.

.

A few hours later, Laxus woke up when Mira rolled over and gave him a headbutt in her sleep. He groaned. The bed was too big without Freed.

The blonde wrapped his arms around the woman to prevent her from potentially punching him next. As he did this, he caught a hazy glimpse of the time from the glow-in-the-dark digital clock on their bedside table.

_What the hell._

Laxus sat up groggily. "Dammit, Freed."

Getting up from bed, he trudged towards the doorway to lean on it while he stared at Freed still writing, reading, typing and sorting through endless papers.

"Hey." he greeted tiredly.

Freed didn't look up from his work. "Hm? Laxus, why're you up?"

"I dunno, why are  _you_  still up?"

"I'm almost done."

"It's 4 AM."

"Mm-hm."

Laxus sighed, ran a hand through his hair tiredly and leaned against the doorway as he said, "Freed.  _Baby_.  _Sugarpie honeybunch._  You're overworking yourself.  _Please_ , you need to rest."

Then they also heard Mira's voice from the bedroom shout,  _"GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP, JUSTINE!"_

Freed was silent as he stared at his monitor. After a few more seconds, he saved his work, put his laptop on sleep, and stood up.

He only said, "I need to sleep. I'm starting to hear things." before heading straight to their bedroom and crawling under the sheets.

.


	2. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laxus introduces his partners to his grandfather.  
> Except it's been a while since he last came back home.

.

Makarov Dreyar wasn't expecting any guests that day. That afternoon, he certainly didn't expect to see the familiar face of Mirajane Strauss.

He knew her as a girl from the neighborhood, and now here she was standing before him, a beautiful grown woman in her late twenties, a tray of freshly-baked pie in her arms, held up just enough so that when the old man looked down he could see that she was clearly pregnant, probably around five or so months along.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Makarov, sir." she greeted, still in that gentle, sing-song voice of hers that he always found was music to his ears.

"Mira-chan!" he said, breaking into a huge smile. "What a pleasant surprise! I haven't seen you for years, dear girl. Look at you!"

Mira's smile back was as sweet as ever. "It's great to see you too, sir. I-… We were in the neighborhood, and we thought we'd bring you a treat this afternoon."

"We?" that was when Makarov looked up and noted the green-haired man standing timidly behind Mira, obviously carrying her bag for her. "And who is this nice young man?"

"Freed Justine, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you." came the answer, accompanied by a curt bow and a small nervous smile.

Makarov nodded back, before opening the door wider and stepping aside to let them in. "Well, both of you, come in. Excuse the mess, I've got the place to myself and don't really get much visitors these days."

He led them to the living room and told them to make themselves comfortable, before taking the pie from Mira and bringing it to the kitchen to serve. They both offered to help, how nice of them, but he playfully insisted that he's not so old that he can't accommodate his guests properly. They quickly relented, taking seats in the couch. He heard them talking in hushed voices while he was in the kitchen.

After only a few moments, he returned with the pie on a plate, some smaller plates, utensils, and tea. They both thanked him politely and as soon he sat with them, Mira spoke up.

"Are you still teaching in the school, sir?" she asked as Freed poured tea for all of them.

Makarov let out a small smile. He liked the younger man's manners so far. "Ah, I've retired. The occassional tutoring job, some consulting here and there. I've got enough savings to get by, anyway. Not much for an old man to do here. I go for walks every morning. It's a quiet town, you know that."

"No company?"

"Not since Laxus left." he sighed. "How many years has it been? I lost count..."

"Actually, that's why we're here." Mira started, exchanging a glance with Freed. Then she looked down, consciously resting her free hand on her pregnant belly. "This might come as a bit of a surprise, Mr. Makarov..."

Makarov sat up straighter, brows furrowed. "Go on."

Then the woman looked up again, her eyes meeting his, a small smile on her face. "I'm currently carrying Laxus's child."

He could have dropped his teacup, but he managed to put it down the table across them with a shaking hand. It rattled. "Laxus? My grandson, Laxus? He's-… he's the father?"

"Yes."

Makarov then looked towards Freed, his face full of question. "Then...?"

Mira breathed deeply before she continued, "And Freed… is his partner."

"...Partner? Then how- You… The child?"

The woman nodded. "I'm their surrogate. No, wait, that's- I-… We'll be raising it-… him, actually it's a boy - together. The three of us."

"All three of you? You, Freed here… and Laxus?"

"We've been living together, for a couple of years now. It took a while, but we convinced Laxus that we should tell you - after all, this baby is your great grandson…"

Makarov fell silent, looking from Freed's nervous face and then to Mira's determined expression.

Finally, he asked, "And where is Laxus? He couldn't come here, tell me all this himself?"

"He's on his way. He was supposed to come here with us, but Mira and I arrived here first… We've waited for hours and he told us to go ahead of him." Freed answered, finally speaking up. "He just… he said he got lost."

At that, Makarov coughed and then let out a laugh, surprising both his young companions. The old man laughed so hard, tears forming on the sides of his eyes.

When he calmed down, he said, "He's never good at these things, so he's stalling. Probably pacing, couldn't get himself to face me and be the one to break the news. You should both know that."

They smiled, and then Makarov knew that they did know it, but they came here anyway, taking the hit for his stubborn, proud, estranged grandson.

And so he picked up his cup of tea again, and asked them to tell him some stories to pass the time.

.

Laxus came two hours later, a steady but hesitant set of knocks on the door. Makarov went to open the door for him.

The blonde stood there, looking down gingerly, a set frown in his face and his brows furrowed as always. He looked far from the lanky young man who Makarov last saw when he was twenty one, but Makarov would always recognize his grandson no matter what.

Laxus shifted uneasily but met his grandfather's eyes with a steady gaze. "Tadaima."

"Okaeri." Makarov only looked back solemnly, a small smile on his face. "You're late."

The blonde looked down, and then he was back as the little boy that Makarov scolded for getting into yet another unnecessary scuffle. "Sorry."

The answer only took a heartbeat. "Apology accepted."

Laxus looked back at him then, as if finding it hard to believe how quickly that reply came. But seeing his grandfather's steady, cheerful smile, he just chuckled. "Have you met them?"

"Yes, and they've been waiting for quite a while."

With that, Makarov turned his back and stepped inside the house, Laxus stepping inside and closing the door behind him. It has indeed been a while since Makarov brought back the pie and the tea to the kitchen with Freed's help.

They stopped by a window overlooking the back garden, where Freed and Mira had retreated to get some fresh air.

"I guess congratulations are in order." Makarov said as they watched the two.

There was an old and creaky but trusty swing set still from Laxus's childhood that Makarov never found the heart to put away. Now Mira was sitting on it while Freed stood behind her, swinging her gently.

"Well, you always told me I should find a nice girl and give you a cute great-grandson." Laxus said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "It didn't happen the usual way, but it worked out, I guess."

Mira and Freed were talking and laughing together. Mira must be telling him about days spent playing with Laxus and their other childhood friends there in that very garden.

"Yes, they told me the very exciting story while you were running late." Makarov said. "They're wonderful. I wonder what exactly you did to deserve them."

Then the two outside finally noticed them watching. Freed waved gingerly at them while Mira shouted something that looked like _'You're late, Laxus!'_  but also smiled cheerfully.

Laxus only said, "You and I both. I dunno how, but I've got them. And you."

Makarov looked up to watch his grandson raise a hand in acknowledgement at the two, an easy grin on his face, his eyes gentle and full of care and love and  _oh_ , Makarov never thought he'd see the boy this way, but there he was.

"Hey, gramps." Laxus started, not taking his eyes off Freed and Mira who both got distracted by a cat walking along the top of the garden wall.

"Hm?"

"We're naming the kid  _'Yuri'_. After your dad."

Makarov blinked, but nodded in appreciation. "A good choice."

"Just… thought I'd get your blessing or something."

"You have it."

"Thanks." and after a pause, Laxus added, "And sorry. For everything."

Makarov looked on as Laxus finally turned to go outside and join the two. He watched as Laxus walked up towards them and planted a quick kiss on Freed's cheek. Then he had to lean down when Mira took him by the ear painfully and scolded him for being late to his own homecoming.

He could hardly believe it - after all these years, despite his worries that his grandson was out there in the world alone, Laxus has been with good people, loved and well taken care of after all.

Makarov has never felt so relieved and happy in years.

.


	3. Exchange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This AU is based on the manga "Shinkuu Yuusetsu" by Bikke. It's one of my fave BL titles EVER. It's pure and precious and just... *sobs* Anyway if you haven't read it, you should!
> 
> That's why this chapter is one of my personal faves in this collection. Enjoy!

It was Mira's first day on this foreign country. Well, technically it was her second day - but she spent the first day unpacking her things, reviewing the local language, and catching up on sleep, trying to adjust her body clock to adapt to the different timezone.

So she considered this the first official day of her stay in this country, and her first day as an exchange student. Early that morning, the official in charge of her picked her up from her temporary dorm and gave her a ride to the town's private high school. The woman was curt and polite at best, and didn't speak much even though they spoke the same language. But she told Mira what she needed to know. Mostly.

"This is one of the best private schools in this country, Miss Strauss. It can be intimidating, but the principal said that they have already asked one of their best students to look after you. You'll be in the same class, and he will give you a tour of the school before lessons start today. They thought you'll be more comfortable if you were introduced to your surroundings right away. That's why we're coming in early."

"That sounds great, thank you." she answered diligently. She was nervous, but only a little bit. She was confident most of the time - and the city so far had seemed like a friendly place to her.

.

Mira had never seen such pretty long green hair on a boy before. She actually thought that the student was a girl until he turned from his conversation with who must be the principal and a teacher. He caught her looking and smiled politely. He stood straight, hands folded neatly behind him, uniform pristine.

The principal greeted her warmly in her native tongue, his words fluent but his accent thick. He said the pleasantries, how pleased they were to meet her and how they're looking forward to her temporary stay… The teacher was introduced to her as her homeroom teacher, who gave her a little book and a slip of paper - her student handbook and class schedule, respectively.

Then she was introduced to her guide - he was Freed Justine, her class representative and one of their best, and he was going to show her around. They asked him if he would be so kind as to show their exchange student around while they moved into the office so they could settle some important paperwork.

"Follow me… May I call you Mira?" the student asked in his native language, and she had studied enough to not be intimidated by the strange words.

"Yes." she replied, and hoped she sounded convincing… or at least, didn't sound too silly with her accent.

"Great. You can call me Freed. We've got plenty of time before class. I'll show you around. Let me know if you have any questions."

She nodded, thanked him and followed.

.

"...lastly, the school's also open for students during weekends. The classrooms are locked, but we're free to use the library for homework and research. We need special permission to use the labs, but you only need to ask the teachers. They're not that strict about it. Some sports clubs also have practice during weekends."

Mira listened intently, having some difficulty catching up to some of her guide's words, but managing decently. She only had a rough crash course on the language before her start as a foreign exchange student.

It was a good thing that her guide spoke in a formal manner, with minimal local slang, so it was easy to piece his words together. He had also read up a bit on her lanuage, so that when she didn't get something, he used some words on her mother tongue. He was accommodating, responsible and very friendly. No wonder he was the class rep. And a member of student council, if she got that part correctly.

"I guess that ends our tour of the school." he finished, smiling. "Is there anywhere else you want to go? We have to get back for homeroom, but we can schedule it for this lunch, or after classes."

Mira smiled back. "Oh, I think I've troubled you enough! Thank you for showing me around!" she said, hopefully she managed a decent sentence despite her accent. He seemed to think nothing of it, anyway. That, or he's also very nice.

He started walking now, to the direction she recognized was heading back towards their classroom. She fell into step beside him easily.

"Do you have any questions, then? Even if it's not about school." Freed continued. "I know our country can be really different from yours. So if you don't understand a greeting or a custom, I can explain it."

Mira nodded, following her new friend's line of thought. He was looking out for her. They were going to start class soon and he wanted her not to be too overwhelmed about it. They walked in silence through the school halls, Freed letting her think. And now that she thought about it, she was indeed really curious about one thing in particular...

But as soon as she opened her mouth to speak, she hesitated and stopped.

"Yes?" Freed prompted.

She shook her head. "I'm not… sure… it might be rude to ask…?"

He blinked. "Go on. I'll keep an open mind."

Will he? Well, he's been an astounding guide so far. And he looked like a very calm guy. So maybe she shouldn't worry so much.

"Before I came here, I was required to read a bit on the background of the country. I read about everyone being paired? Something like that… It mentioned exchange of energy, something done regularly and physically, but no other details."

"Ah. The supplier-receiver system." Freed nodded.

"Yes, that! I forgot what it was called..."

"I guess it only exists for our people here. It's in our biology, you see." he explained, looking around for a bit before he nodded towards two people in the distance.

Two students were standing by the bottom of the staircase, a pretty girl with long-green hair and a boy with longish raven hair. After a quick exchange of words, they closed the distance between them, their lips touching.

Mira looked away quickly - not that she was judging, but it was such an open display, what with other students walking by to get to their respective classrooms- Wait-

"Alzack and Bisca are partners." Freed explained. "That how they exchange energy."

Mira looked at him. "T-Through kissing." The book said NOTHING about that.

"We call it 'charging', really."

"Mm-hm. We get paired together when we're around three or four - that's when a receiver starts to lose their stored energy and a supplier begins building up their stock of it. We get paired up to balance it out. Because partners are always supposed to be close at hand for each other, we get paired to someone the same age, or as close a match as possible. So they can go to the same school, participate in the same activities, that sort of thing..."

"Okay, but… doing that in public is normal too?" Mira asked.

Freed shrugged. "It's a regular thing. Like handing someone their lunch, or taking your daily vitamins. It's normal to do it around here, although some of us prefer doing it in private. Either way is accepted."

She nodded this time, determined to grasp the local custom as quickly as she could. If it's a normal thing, then the sooner she could get used to it, the sooner she can find her place in this school. "Alright, I think I got it."

"I hope you're not too shocked." Freed said, concern evident in his voice.

But before Mira could reply, another voice cut in, this time deep and rough.  _"Hey! There you are!"_

They turned to see a blonde teenager with a scar on his face, walking towards them briskly. He was wearing a sports attire, a towel draped on his shoulders. He was taller and bigger than both of them, and Mira couldn't help but take a step back. He was a bit intimidating.

"Good morning, Laxus." Freed greeted with a smile.

The guy named Laxus frowned and grumbled his reply, and Mira could only catch a few choice words.  _"...your classroom ...office ...everyone I asked ...different answers."_

Mira just realized that maybe Freed had been talking to her really slowly… because she hardly understood anything the other student had said.

"Oh, that's because I was giving a tour." Freed answered.

...or maybe Freed just spoke more clearly. Maybe. Gods, the language barrier was a pain.

Then Laxus finally noticed her standing just a bit behind Freed. "Who's this?"

"This is Mira." Freed introduced. "She's the new exchange student. She'll be in my class. The principal asked me to assist her while she settles in."

"Hello, good morning." Mira managed to say, stepping forward and bowing a bit.

"Morning. Laxus Dreyar." the blonde said promptly. Then, thankfully, his next sentence was slower and formal enough that Mira actually understood it. "Mind if I borrow Freed for a bit?"

Mira simply nodded, and Freed told her to wait for him before he followed Laxus towards a nearby set of lockers. Laxus was saying something and Freed was nodding. Deciding it was rude to watch them, she took out the slip of paper that was her class schedule and decided to give in a once-over. She had three classes in the morning, an hour and a half for lunch, more classes in the afternoon, there was a dedicated timeslot for afterschool activities, maybe she should ask Freed about those-

When she looked back up, they were kissing. Wait. No. Not kissing -  _charging_. She should use the right term. Laxus had an arm on Freed's waist, his other hand casually in his pocket, while Freed's hands were on Laxus's shoulders.

When they parted, Freed said something and Laxus said something back. Laxus looked back at Mira and nodded - and she hardly had time to realize it was a polite nod of acknowledgement before the blonde left a short kiss on Freed's cheek, and then left.

Freed got back to Mira with his usual pleasant and polite smile. "Sorry to make you wait. He said he won't be able to meet up with me during lunch, so he wanted to charge now. It's almost homeroom. Shall we go?"

.

By the time lunch has rolled in, Mira already had a dozen or so questions about this supplier-receiver system but she didn't know how to bring it up to Freed. He said they can have lunch together in the school's cafeteria and she only followed him meekly as he led the way.

When they got there, another student was already waving at Freed to come join him in his table. Mira didn't mind sitting with other students, it's actually nice that the guy with dark blue hair had reserved seats - no, a whole table - for them. Even if his feet were on the table.

"Where's Laxus?" the student asked.

"He's having lunch with the team." Freed replied, brushing his friend's feet off the table before settling his packed lunch down. "Mira can have his seat."

"Hey, you're the exchange student! I'm Bixlow! D'you have lunch?"

Mira shook her head. "I was hoping to get one here."

"Perfect! We can get it together!" With that, he had already pulled her to get some cafeteria food.

When they got back to the table, Freed had new company: a pretty brunette who also had packed lunch with her. She introduced herself as Evergreen. "I'm this idiot's long-suffering receiver." she said when Bixlow sat next to her.

"Ever needs to get a boyfriend, maybe she'll be happier, and she'll stop being so mean all the time." Bixlow said.

"You're not together?" Mira asked before she could help herself, but before she could worry if she offended anyone, Freed spoke up.

"Being partners doesn't always mean you're a couple." he explained. "These two are more like siblings forever wearing their Get-Along shirt, which will never work."

Bixlow nodded. "Yeah, and we can be re-assigned if needed. So. Ever. You need to find a supplier boyfriend. Then I'll find me a nicer partner. I don't mind if it's a boy or a girl or neither or both or a venomous snake, as long as they're not mean and grumpy all the time."

"I don't want or need a boyfriend." Ever grumbled. "They're a waste of time. And I'm mean because you're noisy."

"Excuse you, I'm cheerful!"

"You're annoying."

"Everything is annoying to you, though."

And then their bickering turned too fast for Mira to follow, so she turned to Freed, who was treating it as a regular occurrence. Maybe it was. If the two had been paired since they were kids, well...

"So, Freed..." she started. "Are you a supplier or a receiver?"

"I'm a supplier, like Bix." he answered promptly. "It is kind of strange for you, isn't it?"

"Not really, it's just… so different." Mira said, looking around - she can easily spot at least five pairs of students in the cafeteria, lips locked, the other occupants of their tables carrying casual conversations normally. "I'm just wondering, if a kiss on the lips is for partners to charge, how do you express… um, I don't know the word."

"Affection?" Freed provided, but Mira was still unfamiliar with it, so he tried in her language. " _Love_."

"Yes!" she nodded.

He thought about it. "For families, a kiss on the forehead. Like with parents, or siblings. For others, you kiss them on the cheek. It's a greeting in your country, but here, it's very special."

"Oh. That's… interesting." Mira said, thinking about it. She made a mental note not to greet her friends here with cheek kisses. It looks like they take the gesture more seriously. Then another thought hit her, when she remembered this morning with Freed and his partner, just before Laxus left- "Then… you and Laxus...?"

At this, Freed only smiled down at his lunch, a light blush on his cheeks. "Well… I guess we got lucky."

.

"Does she follow you everywhere?" Laxus asked one afternoon, when he came home to find Mira sitting on their couch, a book in one hand and a dictionary in the other.

"She can understand you." Freed pointed out from his cozy position sitting on the floor, busy doing his math homework in the low table.

Freed and Laxus lived in an apartment unit in a building mostly occupied by other high school students. It was within walking distance to the school, and only a few blocks away from where Mira stayed.

"Hi, Laxus." Mira said; it was only appropriate to greet the owner of the place. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"Nah, I like you." He only shrugged as he slumped on the other end of the couch, peering curiously at Freed's homework.

"What was that?" Mira blinked at him, and she caught Freed look up and grin a bit at Laxus.

"I said," he leaned back against the couch, and yawned as he loosened his uniform tie. "I like you better than the other two."

"He's talking about Ever and Bixlow." Freed provided, returning to his homework, ignoring Laxus absentmindedly playing with his hair.

"God, they're noisy." the blonde shook his head tiredly. "And they come here like they live here."

"We've known them since we were in gradeschool. You're not used to them by now?" Freed chuckled.

"They don't stop being noisy." Laxus reasoned, then turned towards Mira. "You're not noisy. What're you doing?"

"Um… required reading." she answered uncertainly. "I'm not familiar with some of the words, so I consult the dictionary..."

"Why don't you help her out?" Freed turned to his partner. "You know you can."

"Too much trouble." Laxus grumbled.

"C'mon." Freed said, nudging the other teen's leg with his elbow. He looked at Mira and explained, "Laxus is good with languages. He's fluent in yours. He was actually the one who taught me those simple sentences I use when talking to you."

 _"Eh? Really?"_  Mira asked, in her native tongue.

 _"Really."_  Laxus repeated, in the same language as hers, surprisingly almost without an accent.  _"So what? It's an easy one anyway."_

She was promptly impressed.  _"Can you help me with some of these sentences I'm having trouble with? I mean, I understand the words, but… the meaning and expressions… I think I'm being too literal..."_

Laxus looked at Freed in dismay, before sighing and shrugging. "Fine, give it here."

Mira smiled, handing the book to the blonde and then swapping her dictionary for a notepad and pen. She scooted closer to Laxus and pointed out the section in the book that was giving her a hard time. He nodded, before explaining the meaning of the sentence, going word-for-word, giving her their literal meanings, then explaining how they changed with the individual words put together. While he did this, Mira took down notes.

Freed couldn't quite follow the foreign-sounding conversation, but he found that he quite liked the white noise the two voices provided. He turned back to his mathematical equations, smiling a light smile.

.

They fell into a routine, and after a few days, Freed caught Laxus sitting up on his bed and reading a familiar novel under the lamplight.

"Is that my book?" Freed asked, sitting on the bed beside his partner. It was his own copy of the book that Mira was working on finishing. He had already completed it a few weeks before when he did some advanced reading.

"Why're your assignments always more interesting than ours?" Laxus grumbled, flipping a page.

Freed laughed a bit, curling up against the blonde's side and peering at the book. "You enjoy helping Mira out, do you?"

He shrugged, shifting to accommodate his companion. "It's good practice. Talking to a native speaker."

"And it's a good book." Freed added, eyeing the familiar words on the pages. The book was full of romantic, contemplative pieces of narration. He realized Laxus was never really fond of things like those… words and what they might hold past their literal meanings. Laxus in general never talked about those things. He wasn't a sentimental person. It made Freed curious about how Laxus explained the passages to Mira, how Laxus interpreted those phrases… For the first time, Freed almost wished he was able to follow their rapid-fire conversations on a different language. It would be interesting to hear him talk about feelings and expressions and symbolism...

Contemplating made him doze off a bit, and Freed yawned. Laxus looked at him shortly and said, "You should go to sleep."

"I think I will do that." Freed smiled, then leaned up to plant a kiss on his partner's cheek. Laxus smiled softly. Then Freed climbed out of his partner's bed and onto his own across the room.

.

_"Are you sure it's okay if I don't come? You know I could make a request."_

_"I told you, I'll be fine. I already talked to someone who can be my temp for the trip."_

_"Okay, then are you sure you won't be rude to them?"_

_"Shit, look, you're my partner. Not my mom."_

_"I'm just saying, you don't have a good track record when it comes to other suppliers."_

Mira wanted to think that they didn't know that she could hear them. Or maybe they were talking quickly in the hopes that she won't understand. But she did. A month in the country with some basic knowledge to start with, along with full-time exposure to the language, and she found that she could keep up with them most of the time.

Freed and Laxus were in the little kitchen of their flat, splitting the chore of cooking dinner. Mira was on the dining table, trying to focus on the project she was working on with Freed.

From what she gathered, Laxus was going on a trip with his team. A training camp. He was on the school's rugby team - the quarterback, which seemed fitting. Freed was concerned because he won't be on the trip. Laxus made an arrangement with another supplier, who also wouldn't have his partner with him. Mira had learned prior that these kinds of temporary arrangements were normal. Freed said some people are more sensitive than the others about it, though.

And from what she was currently hearing, Laxus was more on the 'sensitive' end of the spectrum. But she was sure he tries. After all, he did make the arrangement. Even though he doesn't sound too happy about it either.

Nevertheless, Mira felt like she was intruding. She didn't want to leave, but she didn't want to tell them to lower their voices either. So she tried her best to look as casual as possible when she headed towards the bathroom. Maybe that might give them privacy without making things too awkward.

After a while, she heard some short knocks on the door before she heard Freed speaking, _"Mira, are you okay? Dinner's almost ready, you're still staying to eat with us, right?"_

Mira reassured her friend that yes, she'd be delighted to dine with them, and that she'll be with them right away.

When it was time to go home, both of the boys decided that a nice walk to her place would do them good.

She saw them off when they were right outside her building. She smiled at them gratefully. "Thanks for walking me home." Then she looked at Laxus. "Have a safe trip tomorrow."

To her surprise, Laxus replied in her language. "You'll watch over my partner for me, will you? You owe me for tutoring you on that sappy book."

He said it almost too fast for even her to follow, and she didn't know how, but she instantly knew why he did so. She looked at Freed, and as she expected, the guy was looking up at Laxus with a questioning expression. He didn't know what the blonde had said.

"Of course I will." she replied.

She watched them walk off, catching bits of their conversation: Freed asking Laxus about what just happened, and the blonde just shrugging and telling his partner that it was nothing important.

.

Mira didn't notice it at first. She thought her friend (best friend, really - at least in this country) was just more silent than usual because he might be focusing on the really important paper they were supposed to turn in that week. Or maybe he was missing his boyfriend. Either reason was understandable.

Freed looked fine that morning. He even managed to hold Evergreen and Bixlow back from killing each other during lunch. But as they walked out the school gates that afternoon after school, she noted that Freed didn't look all that fine.

"Freed, are you okay?" she asked softly, stepping closer. "You look pale."

"Hm?" He blinked at her, and she noticed that against his unusually pale complexion, his cheeks were flushed. He sounded a bit out of breath, and his eyes looked tired. "Of course I'm fine." he said, but his voice sounded weak too.

"You don't look fine." she said, taking his arm. They stopped walking. She touched his forehead and held back a gasp. "You're burning up!"

He shook his head, gently prying her hand from his forehead. "Oh, just… It's nothing, I'll be fine when I get home and lie down for a bit."

She didn't believe him, but she started walking, faster this time, towards his apartment. "What about medicine? Should I get something?"

He didn't answer. Now he was hardly standing upright, his eyes closed as his hands flew to his chest and he breathed deeply.

Mira swallowed. "Freed! Can you hear me? Where do I- Oh my god." She struggled to stay upright when he leaned his weight on her. Their bags were on the ground now as she held him up against her. "Hang on. Just- Okay, just tell me what to do-"

That was when a familiar voice cut in. "Hey you guys- Whoa! Everything okay here?"

Mira breathed out in relief as she turned towards Bixlow, who was jogging towards them upon seeing that there was something wrong. "Bixlow! Help! Freed- He just- I think he's sick. He just collapsed!"

"What?!" Bixlow exclaimed, quickly examining their friend. He took one look at the pale face and flushed cheeks, checked Freed's temperature and cursed. "Oh no. Laxus-"

"He's at-"

"-damn, I forgot. He's at camp!" Bixlow groaned, then turned towards Mira. "You're always together. Who's his temp right now?"

"W-Who? Freed?"

"Yes. Freed's temp receiver."

Mira shook her head helplessly. "His temp...? There's… There's no one…" Because these past few days she really never saw Freed charging with anyone.

Bixlow gaped as he looked at Freed. "Dammit, Freed! What were you thinking?!"

Freed's response was hardly audible, but they heard it. "Laxus will be back soon..."

"You know that's not how it works!" the taller teen scolded (Mira never thought she'd see the day that happened) and took his friend's arm and tugged. He nodded at Mira. "Okay, help me out, I'll carry him. There's a clinic on the next block."

Mira quickly helped Bixlow to carry Freed on piggyback, then she grabbed their bags and followed Bixlow's lead.

"I don't understand." she said as they made their way towards the clinic. "It's only the receivers who need energy, right? Suppliers produce energy, so why is he-?"

"Yeah, but our body can only hold so much." Bixlow answered, panting slightly. "Us suppliers can make energy for ourselves, but we need to share it. Release it somewhere - give it to someone - to keep things balanced, or we'll overload."

"So Freed has too much energy he got sick?"

"Yeah. What the hell are you trying to do, man?" Bixlow asked, although he couldn't tell if Freed was still conscious or not. "You could die pulling shit like this!"

"What?!" Mira asked, but Bixlow had no time to answer as they were already at the clinic, announcing an emergency need for a receiver.

Unfortunately, the doctor and nurse on duty were both suppliers, and the other lone patient, a receiver, looked sick from something, which wouldn't do much good.

"I'll call Ever. She should be at the school." Bixlow said, taking out his phone to dial his partner's number.

"But Evergreen's your-"

Bixlow cut her off. "We'll manage. Freed's worse off." But after several unanswered calls, he stomped out of the clinic in a hurry. "Whatever, I'm getting her myself!"

Mira felt helpless - had been feeling helpless for some time now. She watched as the doctor and nurse tried to keep Freed's temperature down, and made him take a pill that was supposed to help.

She sat on his bedside as they waited anxiously for Bixlow and Ever. As she watched Freed's pained face, she felt the tears come. Laxus told her to look after Freed. Even if he didn't ask-... Freed had looked after her from the moment she met him, had only welcome her with kindness and understanding, helped her feel at home, comforted her whenever she got homesick... and now she couldn't even do anything to help him.

"Hey, don't cry." he said in a whisper, taking her hand and giving it a light squeeze. Even now he was looking after her.

"I should have noticed sooner." she despaired.

"No." he reassured. "It's my fault. I overestimated myself."

"But Freed-"

"Where is he?!" - the rough voice made her jump, and she turned to see Laxus standing by the clinic's doorway, Bixlow panting behind him.

Mira instantly stood, calling out. "Laxus, I-"

He hardly spared her a glance, but he managed to say, "I got this."

Obligingly, she stepped back. She saw Laxus sit on the bed. He put a hand on Freed's forehead, frowning at the temperature before stroking long green hair.

"You had the audacity the scold me for being picky and spoiled, and not taking care of myself." he said.

Freed smiled a weak smile. "I thought I'd try to hold out."

Laxus sighed. "Stupid idea."

"Mm-hm. I know that now."

"You should've known earlier. I don't even want to ask why you did it." Laxus said, helping his partner sit up with difficulty. He helped Freed ease himself up to lean back against the pillows behind him. "Let's get you fixed up."

Freed managed a slight nod. "Welcome home."

"Shut up and get better." was all Laxus said before cupping his partner's chin and pressing their lips together. Freed relaxed considerably against him, finding his partner's hands and holding on to them.

Mira looked away to give them their privacy. She saw that Evergreen had arrived, and was busy filling out a form in behalf of Bixlow, who claimed another bed, complaining that his body wasn't made to carry other people.

After a while, Freed was lying on his back again, sleeping soundly. Mira stepped forward, wringing her hands nervously. "Is he…?"

"He's gonna be fine. Just needs to rest a bit." Laxus answered, standing up from the bed. "He can be so goddamn stubborn sometimes."

Mira couldn't help but hover, returning to the chair by the bedside and adjusting the sheets over her unconscious friend's form. Laxus excused himself to talk to the doctor and to tell Ever and Bix that Freed's okay.

He returned a few minutes later to find Mira brushing stray strands of green hair away from the sleeping teen's face.

"It's not your fault." he said, making her jump and withdraw her hand away quickly. He sat on the bed, facing her. "You couldn't have known."

"I could have noticed." she replied miserably. "I thought he was just busy, tired, sad. He-... Bixlow said he could have died."

"No, it would take a few more days for that." Laxus reassured her, but was frowning himself. "It's not your fault he decided to be stubborn and- ah, hell."

She was already crying.

So he sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she broke down, crashing against him as she cried on his chest, clinging tightly to his shirt. And Mira was so grateful that it was Laxus - Laxus who was listening. Because she wanted to say so much but couldn't find it in her to speak in their language, the words just spilling out of her in her mother tongue and Laxus-... Laxus would understand, she was sure.

"I'm so so sorry... I didn't notice he wasn't feeling well and I didn't ask him how he's doing and- and-... I got so scared, I didn't know what to do-... and- and they said it was bad and he could die from it and I didn't even know-! I-... I'm sorry!"

"It's okay." he replied calmly. "You did your best. He's gonna be fine now."

It took her a while to calm down, and he just held her and rubbed her back until she felt better. She apologized for ruining his shirt, and then fussed over Freed again, wiping sweat from the sleeping teen's brow and making sure he was cozy under the blankets. She wanted to stay, but Laxus insisted that she had to go home and get some rest, finish her homework or whatever it was she did… He said Freed will wake up soon anyway, and they'll be home themselves by the end of the night.

He left Freed under the clinic's care for a while so he can walk her home.

As they walked, it was Laxus who broke the silence.

"When we were kids," he started, to her surprise. "I was a brat and I always said I wouldn't charge with anyone else but Freed. The grown-ups said I can't be picky during emergencies, but I got a hard head and… I dunno, Freed and I stuck with each other as much as humanly possible, anyway."

Mira smiled softly. She can almost see it, two little boys who refused to partner up with anyone else.

"See, when you charge with other people, it feels different. Tastes different. Sometimes that… taste? It lingers. Some of us don't notice, but some of us do. Like, really notice the slightest difference. If Freed charged with another person, even for a second, I'll know when I charge with him. And I was a big jerk about that for a time."

Mira looked at him. "So you think he didn't find a temp because he thought you won't like charging with him when you get back?"

"Maybe. I don't know. It doesn't look like it, but Freed's more stubborn than me. Believe it or not."

She chuckled. "I can believe that now."

"But. Look. Charging with someone else, it's easy. Bit uncomfortable at first, 'specially if you're not used to the other person, but you do it. 'Cause you have to. But… charging with your partner after that, you always remember why you're together. Because we're not paired at random. We're always paired with our best match, there's some… science shit involved there, when we're paired. And the longer you're together, the stronger that compatibility becomes. So… I know you don't get it, but. Yeah, just… whatever. Point is, charging with your partner's supposed to be special."

He let out a deep breath, and she kept silent.

"And what Freed did was stupid - what is he, some sort of martyr? But-... Shit, I can't get mad at him. 'Cause I probably would've tried to do it too, if I thought I was strong enough to bear it."

.

The next day, when she saw Freed walking to school, she greeted him with a tight hug, and a whisper of "I'm glad you're okay."

He smiled at her, apologetic. "Me too. Sorry for making your cry."

Mira only shook her head, hugged him again and they began walking to school.

.

It was New Year. It was the first New Year that she wasn't celebrating with her family. She missed them - her parents and her younger siblings: sweet Elfman and playful Lisanna.

But at least she wasn't celebrating alone. Freed, Laxus, Evergreen and Bixlow invited her to come over and join them for the occasion. The five of them stood in the balcony of the building with some of the other residents, watching the celebrations in the streets. Children were running around with sparklers and noisemakers, throwing flowers... Bixlow was throwing candies and confetti at passersby. Beside him, Evergreen was taking photos of the festivities.

The night air was cold, and she was thankful when Freed offered her a mug of hot chocolate to keep warm.

The countdown was loud and festive, as everyone braced themselves for midnight.

"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!"

Mira looked around, and couldn't help but smile when she saw Bixlow give Evergreen a warm bear hug. Instead of drawing away or scolding him as usual, the brunette just hugged him back with a resigned but appreciative smile on her face. He pressed his lips on her forehead shortly before joining in the counting again.

"Six...! Five...! Four...!"

When she looked to her other side, she saw Laxus kiss Freed on the cheek before nuzzling against his partner's long green hair, both of them quiet amongst the cheering.

"Three...! Two...! One...! Happy New Year!"

They joined her then, standing on either side of her at they all looked up and watched the marvellous fireworks display in the sky. It was beautiful, and even though she was away from home, in this foreign country, she didn't feel alone as the spirit of cheer surrounded her.

Then she felt a soft pair of lips brush her cheek, and blinked before turning towards Freed, who was looking at her with a smile. "Happy New Year." he said in her language.

Then there was another, on her other cheek, and she looked at Laxus. "Happy New Year." he also said, reaching out to drape his arm across both her and Freed's shoulders, pulling them both against him so they were all pressed cozily against each other as the celebrations in the street grew louder and livelier.

She smiled to herself, looking down at the warm mug of chocolate in her hands and relishing in the presence of her friends enveloping her.

Then she looked up at the sky again. She didn't want to miss the rest of the fireworks.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically the closest thing I go to writing a soulmate AU, because I suck at the whole soulmates thingy.


	4. Part of Your World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S A 'THE LITTLE MERMAID' AU BUT LIKE... IF URSULA AND SEBASTIAN AND FLOUNDER WERE ONE CHARACTER. AND ARIEL TAKES NO SHIT AND KNOWS HER RIGHTS. AND ERIC IS A PLAYBOY BUT KNOWS TRUE LOVE.
> 
> I FUCKED UP I'M SO SORRY.

If Mira could speak, she would have exclaimed,  _"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"_

And she could speak. Really. Just… very quietly. Well, soundlessly. She had no voice.

Last time she remembered, the man-… merman-… apprentice sea-witch-… ugh. The creature. Now standing in front of her. It was him. He was the one who handed her that contract, explained the terms, watched her sign it, took her voice, changed her tail to legs, and saw her off. She left to be with her beloved, a human prince - but she only had three days to get true love's kiss so she can keep her legs… or she dies.

Now  _he_  was standing in front of her, no tail, looking very human, his long green hair tied back behind his head. He was dressed like those other humans that her prince liked talking to during the feasts and celebrations. What were they called? Right.  _Nobles_. He was dressed like a noble.

Mira knew he wouldn't understand if she just gaped at him, so she made sure her expression looked scandalized enough as she made a gesture seemingly indicating the entirety of her 'guest', and then swept her arms outward, to point out their current surroundings.

What she meant to say was _'What are you doing here in a human castle?'_

He understood.

"Look, I've said it a million times, I'll say it again… I'm doing my job." he said, expression resigned. "My job is to make sure my mistress the evil sea-witch wins. All the time. Because she's a sore loser with powers."

She looked at him in confusion, shaking her head.  _'I don't understand.'_

He continued. "You're doing a very good job working on getting that true love's kiss, so she got angry - because she didn't think you could make it at all, see. So I'm here to… be a distraction."

 _'Distraction.'_  she mouthed, looking pointedly at him.

"I'm supposed to seduce this prince of yours." he said. "Or just stop him from kissing you until sunset today, I guess."

This time, she gaped. At least she's sure that's what it looked like as she tried to exclaim  _'WHAT?!'_  voicelessly.

"Calm down. I won't do it, I-… We can't talk about this here. I'm not even supposed to be talking to you- She's watching. I cast an enchantment to hide us for a while, but it's already wearing off. I'll explain, just… trust me, okay?"

She looked at him, a deep frown in her face.  _'Why should I trust you?'_

"You don't trust me. Right." he rolled his eyes. "Look. I'm your friend. And I not only warned you about this, I tried to stop you. And even after that, I broke rules of a magical contract for you, under an evil sea-witch's nose. I'm breaking rules for you right now. I don't have time to explain. So let. Me. Handle. This."

Then his eyes seemingly lit up and his lips curled into a soft, charming smile. Mira realized it wasn't directed at her, but at someone behind her.

She turned to see her prince walking towards them. What a majestic sight he made, with the morning light streaming from the windows and shining upon his golden hair and eyes. She couldn't help but smile too.

"Your Highness." she heard her companion say, bowing deeply. Oh, she envied how graceful he was! How did he know how to do those human… noble things? And so well!

The prince stopped in front of them, nodding curtly. "It is Freed, right? Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Please do not apologize. It's an honor to be graced with your presence, Prince Laxus."

"Likewise. I see you've met Mira. She's my… uh. Guest."

"Oh, yes. She is a very interesting girl." Freed said, keeping his expression decidedly nonchalant when Mira stepped away from him to cling to Laxus's arm.

"She is." Laxus replied, blinking at Mira's unusual behavior... She usually took to people more easily. But he brushed that off for now. He knew he had his duties to attend to. "Now, you came here to talk to me about… what was it, again?"

"Local unrest." Freed answered. "My… uh, master… the governor, he wanted me to bring it to your notice. He is taking care of it, of course. But he said we should keep His Highness informed."

Laxus nodded. "We can talk about it in the sitting room. Mira, if you would excuse us?"

She looked hesitant to let go, sending him a worried frown.

"I won't take too long." Laxus reassured. "That reminds me: you should go see the dresses I had sent to your room. Pick one you like for the party this afternoon. I imagine that would be more exciting for you, right?"

Finally, she nodded, and watched as the two men walked off towards a separate chamber in the palace, where the prince usually received guests to discuss more confidential business.

.

"So what happened to the governor's aide before you? I didn't hear anything about him replacing the fellow." Laxus asked as the doors closed behind them.

"He… retired." Freed said, looking around at the vast chamber. It was a library, from the looks of it. By the fireplace, there was a comfortable set of couches and a low table, where a tea set had been placed in wait for the prince and his guest.

Laxus sat on one of the couches, pouring tea for himself.

Freed observed this silently, and when the prince looked up to catch him staring, he looked away consciously.

"What, didn't expect me to know how to pour some tea?" he asked, more amusement than condescension in his tone.

Freed tilted his head slightly, a corner of his lips quirking up into a small smile. "No, I've just heard some… things. About His Highness. And I'm curious to see if those things are true."

"And those things are?"

"That he's unlike any before him." the man said, not bothering to sit with his host, preferring to stand by the window and look out at the marvelous view of the town and the ocean. "He doesn't care much for pleasantries. He's independent. He's rebellious. He enjoys notorious company, most of which don't stay for long… Ah, but despite that, he's a good leader, treats everyone fairly and has his kingdom in order."

The prince grinned a bit. "Now where did you hear that last one? That person must be incredibly kind."

"People can ignore some faults as long as someone does their job well."

"And from what you've seen so far, do you think those things you heard are true?"

"I suppose." Freed shrugged. "Most princes wouldn't entertain an unknown aide in private, would usually keep their advisor nearby… Probably would have asked said aide to sit down by now. Or at least turn around and face him."

Laxus raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to sit down?"

"Nope."

"And would you face me?"

That, he did. Freed remained casual as he walked across the room towards the other man. "I guess that covers 'doesn't care for pleasantries' and 'independent' so far."

"What about the others?" Laxus asked, watching as his guest sat himself directly in front of him. On the table, just beside the tray of tea. They were looking eye-to-eye now.

"Do I count as notorious company?" Freed asked as he leaned forward, his tone innocent.

Laxus saw right past the teasing. "Maybe. You lied about your whole reason for coming over. There's no such thing as a local unrest in that village, and the governor's aide is a bright young lady straight out of the schoolroom. I can't see her retiring anytime soon."

Freed simply smiled at that, and watched as Laxus raised his teacup to his lips. But before the prince could take a sip, Freed reached out to take the cup. "So I suppose it's true, then."

"Hey, I was drinking that." Laxus said, but he didn't sound offended.

He sounded amused.

He was enjoying this. He always enjoyed games like this.

Freed made a show of looking curiously at the tea.

Laxus leaned back against the couch, looking pointedly at his mysterious companion. "You should try it, our blend's the best in the kingdom."

Their gazes met, and stayed connected as Freed drank. After a short sip, he put the cup back down on the tray. "It's fine."

"So are you going to tell me who you are, then?"

"No."

"Are you a spy? An assassin? Someone with a ruinous story to tell the whole kingdom unless I give you money? You won't be the first one. Let me tell you right now, it won't work."

Freed couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Do I really look like I'm after your treasury?"

"I don't know anything about you, but you look like someone pretty and fascinating enough to get away with anything."

"You think I'm pretty and fascinating. Thank you."

"So you're not here for gold." Laxus looked critically at him then. "Interesting. Why are you here then?"

Freed shrugged, this time propping his chin on his hands, as he leaned forward with his elbows on his lap. "For fun."

A laugh. "Fun?"

"What if I say I'm here to piss my mother off? She's a dreadful old thing. Age and royalty doesn't make her any likeable either."

"That's better than the 'local unrest' thing. Maybe I'll pretend to believe that." and this time, Laxus sat straighter, considering the stranger before him.

He's heard crazier reasons anyway.

He leaned forward, and reached out to stroke the green hair framing the other man's face. He smirked when Freed leaned in expectantly, and his fingers moved to cup his companion's chin. "Maybe I'll help you with it. Like you said, for fun."

"Hm, will you?"

Laxus stared at the inviting lips for a while, before he chuckled and drew back. "Sure, but not today."

Freed blinked, before pouting. "Why?"

"I'm busy. There's a party this afternoon. You should know how much time and effort it takes to prepare these things." he answered. "Aw, don't make that face. You're making it hard to resist."

"Good."

"Another day." Laxus said, tone final. He stood up. "Then we can have more time for… fun."

Then Freed asked, "Is it the girl?"

Laxus stopped and looked down to meet the other man's eyes. "What?"

"The people talk about it, you know. The very nice and charming girl you're keeping here. You took her around town, and what a kind girl she is. The servants adore her. You look very taken with her. I was surprised when I heard about it. It sounds very different from your usual… company."

Laxus shook his head, snorting. "You listen to a lot of things, don't you?"

"But am I right? Are you refusing me because of the girl?"

"I'm refusing you because I'm busy at the moment." he explained, looking away. "Mira is my guest. She's different from my usual 'company' because she is. She needed help while she's in my kingdom, and in assisting her, I'm only doing my duty. That's it. Duty. Not fun."

"Oh. Really?" Freed said, skeptic.

Laxus just looked at him pointedly. "Really. What now?"

"Nothing, it's just that if someone didn't know better, they'd think you're changing your ways because you finally fell in love."

Laxus scoffed. "Don't be silly."

Freed had to admit - the prince was a good actor.

Laxus started walking towards the huge double doors of the chamber. "Now, I think I've addressed your urgent concerns. I have to get back to work, so if you'll excuse me. Ah, and it's not the fun you came here for, but you can stay for the party."

Freed also stood up, trailing after the prince. "You're not going to kick me out? I think I took a good deal of your time for nothing. And I wasn't invited in the first place…"

"Like I said," Laxus started as they both stood by the doorway. He held the doorknob, not turning it just yet. "You're pretty and fascinating enough to get away with anything."

Freed looked visibly pleased with himself. "Then I have one last request."

"What is it this time?"

"May I kiss you?"

Laxus looked at him. "If that will make you release me from your wicked clutches, then by all means."

He let Freed tug him down, and he closed his eyes, expecting, but only felt soft lips press against his cheek for a second.

Laxus drew back with a bemused grin. "The cheek, really?"

Freed smirked back. "Is it me, or do you sound disappointed?"

"Strange. I am disappointed."

"That makes two of us." was all Freed said, but he didn't sound so displeased. If anything, he sounded satisfied. He opened the door for himself and walked off ahead of the prince as if it was he who owned the place. He disappeared in the flurry of activity, among the maids and footmen rushing to and fro, carrying decorations and arranging the venue for the afternoon's event.

Laxus didn't bother tracking his mysterious, amusing and unexpected guest. The green-haired man was many things, but Laxus had the feeling that he was mostly harmless.

.

This new enchantment was costing him, Freed knew. He wasn't a powerful spellcaster. Never had been. The sea-witch never really taught him how to be a strong magic-user. She only taught him to be an obedient one.

But it was worth nothing that she wasn't an effective teacher.

Now he only had a few minutes of privacy, of concealment from the sea-witch's watchful eyes - and he would use those to talk to Mira before the afternoon party starts. While Laxus was busy and away.

He found her standing in one of the castle's many balconies, wearing a beautiful dark red and pink ball gown. She stared out into the sea.

"Mira." he called out, and she turned to face him. He saw her anxiety, her worry… "Don't make that face, you should be happy and glowing like your usual self."

She shook her head, looking down, wrapping her arms around herself. She was scared.

"Look, you don't have to worry." he stood beside her and after some hesitation, laid his hands on her shoulders and gripped firmly, encouragingly. For once he dropped the sarcasm, the scolding, and the smugness. He simply smiled a soft smile. "Just be yourself today. Smile. Dance. Whatever it was that made him fall for you hard."

She looked at him questioningly.

"Oh, he did. He does. He's in love with you too. And I'm not just saying that. I can see it."

Contrary to what his people believed, the sea-witch didn't want him just for his potential for magic. She also wanted him because he was good at toying with other's hearts, because he could see into them easily. Someone like Freed, who can be devious or gentle as he willed himself to be, was a useful tool under anyone's employ, specially in a business such as the sea-witch's.

Mira smiled back gratefully, but took his hands from her shoulders and held them in hers, squeezing.  _'Why?'_  she mouthed.

He knew what she wanted to ask, really.  _'Why are you doing this for me?'_

"I told you. You're my friend." he said, looking into her eyes. "I got cursed by the sea-witch and forced to work for her and you didn't care, you stayed as my friend. Now I tried to stop you when you went to her for help, and now I've met the reason why you wouldn't let me. Are you sure about this prince of yours? Will you really not regret leaving your world behind for him?"

She nodded, determined. She had already given Laxus her heart.

Freed knew that. Freed understood. "Did you know that part of the contract was that you feel pain with every step you take with those borrowed legs of yours?"

She blinked, shook her head.

"I was supposed to be the one to do it. You know why the sea-witch wanted me to work for her, right? Because my powers are pain and death. Two useful things to have, only magic I'm good at. I was not beyond using them on anyone stupid enough to sign a contract with her. Then there was you. And I didn't have it in me to make you feel that pain." he said, looking down and closing his eyes, sighing.

He felt her hands let go of his and cradle his face instead.

He whispered, "And I don't have it in me to cast death if you fail to get your true love's kiss."

She was nodding, and tears were falling from her eyes now as her hands fell to her sides.

"So you will get it. He's in love with you too, I know it." he sounded just as determined as her. He wiped her tears with his thumb. "Don't cry, you shouldn't be crying. You should be perfect and so breathtaking he wouldn't be able to hold himself back. Your voice isn't with me. The sea-witch didn't trust me with it, but if you fulfill the contract, you will have it back. She won't be able to stop that."

She looked at him now, question in her eyes. She raised a hand to touch his cheek.  _'How about you?'_

He smiled a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me. She won't get rid of me that easily. She needs me to do her dirty work for her."

They heard music from inside the castle halls. They saw that people had begun streaming in the castle now. The party was starting.

She looked nervously towards the direction of the castle, then back at her friend. He nodded, and gave her a little push. "Go on. At least one of us should get a happy ending."

.

True love's kiss was sweet, and warm, and it was indeed true. It felt true. They shared it standing in the balcony of the castle with the best view of the ocean, just as the sun set on the horizon.

There was a dim light then, and both Mira and Laxus looked down to see the bright yellow glow seemingly coming from Mira's neck. Mira closed her eyes and felt the warmth seep in her throat, and spread through her body. When she opened her eyes, Laxus's bewildered face greeted her, and she knew.

"Laxus."

Her voice was back.

He stepped forward, pleasant surprise evident in his expression. "Mira! You… You can talk now?"

"Yes." she said, a smile blooming in her face. Before she clung to his robes excitedly. "Yes, yes! I can!"

They looked at each other and coming up with nothing better to say, they laughed as Laxus swept her off her feet for another kiss, twirling her around happily before setting her back down on her feet.

"I'm so happy. And I love you so." she said tenderly, caressing his face.

He smiled back. "I love you too."

"I can… I can stay with you now."

"What are you talking about? You've always been welcome to stay as long as you-"

"No, I have to tell you the truth." Mira frowned, looking into his golden eyes searchingly. "There was… I signed a contract. I'm… I'm not from here. Oh, this is difficult."

His brows furrowed. "What? What contract?"

Was she an agent all along? Did he misjudge this mysterious woman who charmed her way into his life and his kingdom, only for her to be someone who was hired to do so?

Then she realized something, withdrawing from his arms. "Wait. I… Freed."

He was confused now. "Freed? Who- What's happening here?"

"He's my friend." she said, tears building up in her eyes now. And then all of Laxus's suspicions were gone again. She couldn't possibly be here to do him harm. But she looked distressed, all the same. "He's my friend and he helped me get this far. This close! To you! He's my friend, Laxus!"

"The man from this morning?"

Laxus thought Freed was amusing and interesting - but he only pegged the young man as a flighty, rebellious and mischievous noble's son who was in over his head, out to make some trouble. Going for the prince because he decided he'll go big or go home, and because everyone knew the prince had that kind of reputation anyway. It was very convincing, the way Freed said he was there to have 'fun'. Now that Laxus thought about it, he didn't see Freed during the party, but he only figured that the young man got bored and left.

Now he knew there was more to that stranger than meets the eye.

"He's in danger." Mira sobbed, decisive as she stepped back, trying to brush the tears from her eyes. She started to walk away. "I have to save him. He's done so much for me-"

"Wait, what danger?" he asked, holding onto her wrist to stop her. "Where are you going? Mira, you have to tell me what's going on."

"I'm-… I'm a mermaid!" she exclaimed. Finally. There it was, all out in the open. She looked away from him guiltily. "I'm a mermaid and I signed a contract with a sea-witch, my voice in exchange for a pair of legs just so I can have the chance to be with you."

What in the seven bloody seas...? This was  _not_  how Laxus expected this conversation to go.

He stood there, listened to all that, and instead of letting her go and telling her how crazy that all sounded, he only asked, "Why?"

She smiled softly, sadly. "You know why."

"So why is your voice back?"

"Because I've fulfilled the terms of the contract." she deliberately left the details for him to figure out. "But before that, Freed helped me. The sea-witch sent him here to keep you away from me, to break us up - but he didn't do it because we're friends. He didn't do it even though he was cursed to obey her! Now he's probably going back to her, and I don't know what she'll do to him, she might hurt him- Please, Laxus, I have to find him and tell him not to go back to her!"

Their gazes remained locked into each other for a while. Mira's eyes, blue as the sea, pleading. Laxus's eyes, gold like the sunset, searching.

"Where is he?" Laxus asked.

"He must be going back to the sea by now-"

Finally, he let go of her wrist. "Lead the way."

.

Freed was on the shore now. He walked until his ankles were submerged in the water, took one last look at the palace, and smiled wistfully. It was time to go back and face the consequences of his actions.

But before he could take another step, he heard a familiar voice call. "Freed! Freed, wait!"

He turned around and gaped when he saw Mira running frantically towards him, Laxus in tow.

"Mira, what-"

She cut him off when she threw her arms around him and pleaded. "Don't go back, please!"

He took one look at Laxus and instantly recognized the expression of a man who knew the truth. Freed sighed and looked down to take Mira's hands and pry them away from him gently. "Mira, I have to."

"What will she do to you?" she asked, clinging to his shirt.

"Probably punish me, but I'll live." he said, with what he hoped was a convincing shrug. "I told you, she needs me to do her dirty work for her. She won't get rid of me."

"That's not fair. You should just stay here." Mira insisted. "You're my friend. You helped me- us! You helped us! Laxus will let you stay."

Freed looked up to meet Laxus's gaze. The prince nodded quietly, and Freed let out a small smile. Laxus was a kind man. Freed could see why Mira fell for him. Freed could see why the people love him. Freed could see how he found himself believing in him.

"I'm sure he will." Freed said. "But I have to go back. You're not the only one under a contract, Mira. The sea-witch saved my life once and I agreed to do her bidding because of it. I was foolish to agree to it, but what's done is done. It's not your fault. You know this."

"Is there no way to break that contract?" Laxus asked this time.

"I have nothing valuable to offer in exchange of my freedom." Freed look down, the sighed. "I can offer my powers, but I don't want to. She has taken advantage of it enough in my hands, I shudder to think what she'll do with it in her own hands."

There was silence between the three of them, only broken when Mira looked up and asked quietly.

"How about me?" she whispered. "I can offer her something."

Freed shook his head quickly. "Mira, you shouldn't. Your voice again?"

"No." she said, then looked at Laxus before turning back towards Freed. "Something I worked hard to earn, fair and square. Something that I can hold over her for the rest of her existence. Is she watching us right now?"

Freed was confused, but he answered. "Probably."

Then before any of the two men could say further, Mira started undoing the laces of her gown.

"What are you doing?" Laxus asked.

"The right thing." she answered, stripping off the beautiful gown until she was left in just the thin white knee-length dress she wore underneath it. Then she walked into the water, and only stopped until it reached her waist.

"Sea-witch!" Mira called. "I want to make a bargain!"

"Mira, stop, what are you doing?!" Freed shouted as he and Laxus followed her.

"You free my friend from your chains, and you can have these legs and feet back!"

"What?!" Laxus exclaimed. "You said you just got them-"

Mira ignored him. "It should mean something to you, right? These legs are something I obtained fair and square from a magical contract. It was something you had no control over, and it shows everyone - all of YOUR people, that I won against you! It proves that things don't always go your way. It proves that you're weak!

"Now I'm offering to let them go." she continued, smiling daringly. "You can have them back, and everyone will think that I'm just another foolish mermaid who made a deal with you and couldn't go through with it. Or that I gave up because I was losing the game and was scared to lose my soul next. Put my silence in the bargain. Forbid me to talk of this. No one will know your failure."

"It won't work." Freed despaired. "It can't possibly work-"

"It should." Mira insisted. "Everyone knows the sea-witches are a nasty lot. If they find out your mistress lost a bargain against a weak little lovestruck mermaid, she'll suffer the shame of it forever."

And it looks like she was right. Because right then a glowing item appeared in front of them, floating in the water towards her. It was a seashell, glowing golden against the early night sky.

Mira smiled as she took it in her hands.

"Mira… you don't have to do this." Freed said softly. "Her punishment… I can bear it."

"Well, I can't." she said.

"Are you sure about this?"

Mira looked at him, then turned to face Laxus. She smiled up at the blonde. "Do you love me?"

The prince smiled back softly, raising a hand to touch her cheek. "You know I do."

That was all she needed to hear. She lifted the glowing seashell to her lips, drew a breath and breathed in it. It hummed a low tune before it dissolved into tiny glowing pieces and then disappeared into thin air. The bargain was sealed.

Almost instantly, Freed looked down as he felt warmth in his arms. The previously invisible shackles in his wrists that bound him to the sea-witch was glowing gold. Then they also shattered and were no more.

Meanwhile, Mira felt magic surround her legs again - a sensation she only felt once - when they were given to her. The warmth of the magic filled her body as she slowly felt herself sinking in the water. Laxus reached out and held her as her legs and feet transformed back into her mermaid's tail - silver scales flecked with rose, glinting beautifully in the moonlight.

She smiled nervously at him. "What do you think?"

Laxus shrugged, smirking - a reassurance that he could hardly give a damn to whatever form his beloved took. "It's not so bad. I like the color."

They heard a splash behind them, and turned to see that Freed had returned to his true form, too. His scales were a deep red color.

"You too?" Laxus asked.

"My legs were given by the sea-witch's magic. Since she released me, her magic has no hold on me anymore." Freed explained, swimming around them. "Ah, I really do prefer my tail."

The three of them stood in an awkward silence for a while. Laxus, in his majestic attire, waist-deep in sea water. A mermaid and a merman swimming leisurely around him. He walked back to shore so he can sit on the sand, and the two followed.

Laxus would have to admit - he's been with his fair share of crazy company, but this blows all of those out of the water. Pun not intended.

"So… what now?" he asked them. Mira had crawled up to him to fold her arms over his lap and rest there like a child. Freed was lying with his back on the sand. "I guess we'll have no use for those shoes I ordered for you, then."

"Oh, keep them." Mira said. "I think it's time I talked to father and ask him if he could please let me have some legs and feet once in a while."

"Which is exactly what you should have done in the first place." Freed grumbled.

Laxus raised an eyebrow. "Your father can do magic?"

Mira nodded. "Yes. He's the mermaid king."

"You're a princess?!"

"The most foolish, most troublesome princess." Freed supplied. "Unstoppable, notorious, listens to no one - huh. You two make a good match, actually."

"Why didn't you ask your father in the first place, instead of making shady deals with shady witches?" Laxus asked.

"Because he's overprotective and he'll never agree to it!" she complained.

"What changed this time? Why do you think you can convince him?"

"Freed can vouch for me. He couldn't, not before, because he was stuck with the sea-witch. But he could now! And maybe if father knows I've got someone trustworthy with me, he'll let me visit you."

Laxus sighed. Somehow this was all was going more insane by the minute. And that was saying something because the 'legs-turning-to-tails' part just finished. "Why would your father trust Freed, and not you?"

"I was his advisor." Freed sent him a smirk. "He'll be glad to see me back. The old one wants to retire already. See, I wasn't lying about that."

Laxus looked at him blankly. "I can't tell if you're messing with me or not."

"Well, I've been told that I'm pretty and fascinating enough to get away with anything."

"Don't play that card right now. I've got tons of questions and you WILL answer, or I'll go insane."

"What's happening?" Mira asked, blinking. "You two get along too well, did I miss anything?"

Freed looked back at her. "Did he tell you that he let me kiss him?"

Mira looked up and clung to the prince's shirt. "What?! When?! Laxus, is that true?"

"Uh. Well…"

"He said we can have 'fun' together some other day." Freed added.

Mira was tugging at the blonde's shirt by now. "Laxus, what is he talking about?"

Laxus groaned as he looked up at the heavens. What did he get himself into?

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They convince the mermaid king eventually. And they lived happily ever after. All three of them.


	5. Wasted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tired and Stressed College Roommates In Super Tiny Studio Apartment + Clothes Sharing AU.

Cana looked up when three people sat across her on the table.

Beside her, Evergreen looked up shortly before going back to typing on her laptop.

On her other side was Lucy, who quickly greeted, "Hey, you guys." before also burying her head in her book.

Then Cana burst out laughing - only for a second though, she quickly slapped her hand over her mouth because she remembered that they were in the library. A sacred place. Some people were sleeping.

Freed, Laxus and Mirajane also looked like they went there to sleep. But there was evidence that that was not the case. They looked at Cana in a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"What?" Laxus asked.

"Do you guys know how you look like right now?" Cana asked.

They all groaned, but had different answers for her anyway.

"I know, I look like I need to catch up on like a fucking week's worth of sleep." was Laxus's answer. He was right, Cana had to admit. There were bags on his eyes and even his thick-framed nerd glasses couldn't cover that up. He was chugging coffee from a floral-patterned thermos much like how Cana chugged beer. His blonde hair was in disarray.

"I probably look like hell." came from Mira. She was paler than usual, and also looked like she hasn't slept for a week. The only makeup she managed for the day was some chapstick, if that counts. Her long silver hair was piled up in the messiest messy bun anyone has ever seen. It wasn't even for aesthetic. It was just chaos. Besides the colorful scrunchie, there were also countless bobby pins in her hair to hold them away from her face. And if Laxus was chugging coffee, she was on Red Bull. Yep. Red. Bull. On a stylish mason jar mug. She would make the hipsters cry.

"I don't even think I look human anymore. I'm the walking dead." said Freed. He was in much the same state as the other two. Only he was wearing sunglasses. Because like hell will you catch Freed with eyebags. To his credit, he managed to messily braid his long hair back behind his head, whatever disarray his bangs were in was mostly hidden under a cute knitted beanie. Only it was a bit distracting because it had cat ears. He was drinking coffee from a mug, and had the whole coffee pot in his other hand. Maybe Laxus didn't want to share his thermos.

"What happened to you guys?" Lucy asked. Those statements had made her look up and voice out her concern, because she was Lucy. She was a nice person.

"College." the three chorused miserably.

Cana laughed again. "No seriously, you three look like you got drunk, high and wasted, then you banged each other, then you had to wake up 10 minutes before your first class."

"No one got drunk. Or high." Freed grumbled.

"Wasted, maybe." Mira followed. "Wasted on papers and finals projects and student debts and part-time jobs."

Laxus took a chug from his thermos before providing backup. "And just 'cause we live in one tiny closet of an apartment, it doesn't mean we're banging each other."

"We know, we know." Evergreen reassured them. "It's just-… Do you guys share your closet too?"

"We have a closet?" Mira asked.

"I have a closet." Freed said.

"There was never a closet, Freed. We always knew you were gay." Laxus said.

Freed set his coffee pot down to focus on sending the blonde a death glare. "I mean literally. I have a closet. It's like this box, you see. On the wall. Where I put my clothes."

"I thought that was my closet." Laxus said.

Freed looked like he had an epiphany. "So that's why you always wear my shirts even if they're too small for you."

Laxus frowned. "So that's why those shirts are so tight."

"It's okay, you look sexy."

"It's not okay, Freed. I keep thinking I should go back to the gym, to maintain my six-pack-"

Mira snorted. "Psh. You don't have a six-pack."

"-yes, I do, you stare at it everytime after I shower-"

Mira fell silent.

"Both of you." Laxus added.

"Right. That's fair." Freed said, taking a sip from his mug.

Having won, Laxus continued his rant: "-but coffee and ramen are slowly killing my six-pack. And if my six-pack dies, I won't look good in the shirts anymore. I'll have to buy new shirts-"

"-or maybe just wear your OWN shirts-"

"-but I have no time for the fucking gym. Because of college. Fuck."

"Oh my God." Mira whispered then, and they looked at her. "So whose hoodie am I wearing? I got this from the closet. Freed, please tell me this is yours, so I at least know it's been washed."

They looked at Mira, who was wearing a hoodie too big for her it was practically a mini-dress. That, and sneakers. On her best days, she wore classy blouses, skirts and strappy heels. Today was not one of those days.

"Mine." Laxus answered. "What are you wearing under that?"

Mira looked back at him. "My underwear?"

"Does that mean I can't take it from you now?"

"Why would you want to take it? You're already wearing my jacket." Freed pointed out. He sounded annoyed.

"This is your jacket? I thought it's mine. It's got fur in it."

"That jacket's from Paris."

"So?"

"It's my jacket." Freed sighed. "It's too big for me, yes, but not everything with fur in it is yours, Laxus."

"That's right." Mira agreed. "Stop wearing my fluffy slippers with your giant feet."

By this time, Cana, Lucy and Evergreen were already trying their best not to crack up in laughter.

"Am I the only one here who wears my own clothes?" Freed demanded.

They stared at him.

"That's my beanie." Mira said. She was looking for it. She didn't notice that the person right beside her was wearing it.

"That's my shirt." Laxus followed, and for revenge, he added, "I know it looks better on you, but not everything that looks better on you is yours, Freed."

"W-Well, it was in MY closet." Freed glared as he held on to the oversized button-up that he was wearing in tandem with a pair of galaxy-print leggings. He had no excuse for the beanie.

"And Laxus, buy your own thermos." Mira continued.

"Okay, but stop taking my Red Bull." Laxus argued.

This time, Cana piped up. "At least tell us you guys don't share a toothbrush."

They glared at her.

"So really, you're all wearing each other's clothes 'cause you have a communal closet? Not 'cause you all woke up naked together and have to rush to class?"

Laxus rubbed his aching temples. "Look, if any form of sex happens in that studio-sized hell, we'll probably break it. It sucks that much."

"And there would be a noise complaint." Freed said. "The walls are thin."

Mira blinked. "There had been a noise complaint, actually."

"THAT WAS ONE TIME." the other two claimed.

"Right." Mira sighed. "We don't talk about it."

"Oh my God, so it happened?" Lucy asked.

This time, all three of them answered: "Once."

"We'll never get drunk while playing strip poker again." Laxus provided helpfully.

"LAXUS." Freed and Mira scolded, looking at the blonde in exasperation.

"They might as well know." he grumbled. "And it's not like we don't know about Lucy's two boyfriends, or Ever's extensive leather collection."

Lucy rolled her eyes, while Evergreen blushed bright red and glared at him. Mira buried her face on her hands. She didn't want the mental image of her brother and his girlfriend with the leather collection that her roommate just mentioned.

"We love you guys." Cana said, holding back her tears and laughter. "Yes. Even you, Laxus."

Meanwhile, Freed just poured himself a fresh mug of coffee.

Yep. College.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They don't share a toothbrush, promise.


	6. Detention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically: Honor student Freed Justine sits down with unapologetic flirt Laxus Dreyar and school delinquent Mirajane Strauss during after-school detention.
> 
> They shouldn't get along so well, but then they find they have more some things in common.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Now. I think... this one. THIS ONE IS MY FAVE. (It's LOOOONG of course it is because I got carried away.)

Freed didn't know how he got stuck in this situation.

He's a straight-A student with a pristine record. He shouldn't be sitting here with two known delinquents, tutoring them in subjects they could hardly give a damn about.

What kind of school does this?

Well. Apparently, his school does.

But like all else, he knew that it would pass. He should just… bear with it. Yes. It'll be over soon. He'll do his job - teach the two lazy bums every afternoon after school for week - and if they still fail their subjects, well… he can tell the school counselor that he tried his best and they simply didn't cooperate.

So now he sat patiently with his 'students', doing his own homework while they did some exercises from lessons they supposedly missed. He had told them to let him know if they needed any assistance, or if they had questions.

So far, they were both quiet.

Even though they were the same year, he didn't share any classes with them, but he knew enough.

The girl was Mirajane Strauss, known for sporting outfits that violated at least a dozen items in the school's dress code, for skipping classes, and for getting into fights both in and out of campus. Right now she was answering a set of trigonometry equations quietly, the paper most definitely crumpled because she was writing on it held against her lap while her legs were propped up on top of her desk. She probably didn't think he was watching, because she took the gum she was chewing from her mouth and moved to stick it under the desk.

"Please dispose of your trash properly." Freed said, making the girl stop to look at him.

Mira didn't look surprised or taken aback. Instead she just smirked, and went ahead and stuck the gum under the desk anyway before going back to her equations.

They heard a scoff. Mira didn't look up, but Freed looked at his other companion.

Laxus Dreyar wasn't much different. He regularly broke the rules, slept in classes if he ever attended one, and always had bandages and bruises that told everyone what he had been up to in his spare time. The big shame was that he was one of the smartest students in the school. He always scored well in his exams if he was interested enough about the subject. Now he was hunched down in his own desk, supposedly answering science questions. His stance wasn't as bad as Mira's, but he had pulled a chair nearby so he could prop his feet on them.

Freed refrained from letting out a sigh. What was so difficult about keeping their damn feet on the floor?

But he didn't say any of these out loud. Freed simply kept his mouth shut in a frown as he tried to focus on his homework again.

It wasn't long before the silence was broken again. Laxus groaned, giving up and putting his pen down with a noisy clatter on the desk. "Why the fuck am I here again?"

"You two are in detention." Freed answered promptly. "But instead of just sitting around here doing nothing, our school counselor decided you should instead work on whatever you missed in your subjects while you were… out there doing whatever it was you did to get detention. He asked me to help you out - mind you, HE asked me, I did not volunteer. That's why we're all here."

"Wow. Thank you for the wonderful explanation." Laxus said sourly. "And you couldn't say no?"

Of course Freed could have said 'no'. It's just… he thought it would add a nice record in his book, to have worked with the school to help other students catch up on their studies. And… well… the school counselor was a very persuasive person-

"I know you don't want to be here." Freed said, trying to maintain his calm. "Believe me, none of us want to be here. So the best course of action is to just finish those exercises so we can all be free of each other as soon as possible."

Mira whistled. "Someone's got a stick up his ass."

"Someone's got an F in Trigonometry." Freed shot back hotly.

Laxus laughed at that, while Mira glared back at their 'proctor'.

Freed turned towards Laxus. "Have I answered your question?"

"Yes." Laxus answered smugly, then he lifted up his paper. "And I've answered yours."

"What? It's only been ten minutes-"

"This shit is easy." the blonde said, throwing the paper over his shoulder. He crossed his arms across his chest. "Where did you even get those stupid questions?"

"Show-off." came Mira's unimpressed grumble.

"I asked your professor." Freed said, standing up and walking across the room to pick the paper up. He knew he couldn't count on either of them to do so. "She told me which topics she remembered you skipping or sleeping on."

"She doesn't know shit. I skip 'cause there's nothing she can teach me."

Freed ignored that as he looked over the answers on the paper. They were all correct. "Well, you could let me know what you missed. So I can look for more challenging questions for you."

This time, Laxus groaned in exasperation. "You ain't listening. I didn't miss shit."

"You love that word, do you?"

"So? I'll say it again if it makes you make that face. Shit. Also, I don't need these extra classes."

"Why don't you leave then?"

"'Cause you're nice to look at."

Freed looked at him, unimpressed.

"It's true, though." Mira chimed in. "Only reason I agreed to this is 'cause if I'm gonna be stuck in a room for two hours with Scarface over there, at least my other option is not an ugly old teacher. At least it's a pretty thing like you."

"Wow. Thanks." Freed rolled his eyes and returned to his own homework.

"...and also because there's a tyrant professor sitting just outside the room." Laxus added as an afterthought.

As soon as said tyrant professor who was in charge of them peered inside the room and announced that they can finally go home, Laxus and Mira were on their feet and grabbing their bags.

Laxus took the time and effort to walk towards Freed and pat him on the head mockingly. He said "Come up with some REAL questions tomorrow, Straight-A." before walking off.

Mira, for her part, handed Freed her paper and before Freed could complain that except the first question, the paper was just filled with scribbles, doodles and random obscenities, she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "See 'ya." she chirped cheerfully before leaving, skipping.

Freed sighed. One day down. Four more to go.

.

* * *

.

At the start of their second session, Freed handed them both several blank sheets of paper.

"Are the questions invisible?" Mira asked.

"No." Freed answered, before producing two index cards from his folder.

Laxus immediately cursed. "Shit, it's a make-up essay, isn't it? Fuck. I hate essays."

"Congratulations." Freed said, adding fake cheer in his voice. He handed an index card to each of his companions. "While I come up with 'real questions' for you guys, you'll be writing an essay. Your History grades aren't as bad as your Trig or Chem ones, but it's still bad because you both missed an important quiz. But apparently your professor is a considerate person and he's willing to let you write up an essay to make up for it."

"Holy fuckballs. Kill me now." Mira whined, her head thrown back, hands dramatically covering her face.

"Look at the bright side: it's an essay about your opinion on a historical event. At least it's not an essay about your feelings or experiences because I bet you two would just love that." Freed said as he returned to his own desk and opened a textbook.

"Yay. Wee. I'm so excited." Laxus drawled, but seemed resigned to his fate as he considered the essay question in the index card. "Are we allowed to consult our books?"

"Yes, but strictly no plagiarism. Citations are accepted. And if I find that you just constructed your essay out of a ton of quoted passages, you'll re-do the whole thing. Because whatever you finish today, they're not going to your prof. I'm gonna check them. And give them back to you tomorrow so you can work on any revisions required."

Laxus looked incredulously at him while Mira exclaimed. "What the hell?! I'll have to write it TWICE?!"

Freed shrugged. "I'm not going to pass bad essays to a professor who knows I'm the one who oversaw them."

At this, Laxus just shook his head, while Mira said, "You know… I didn't think it was possible, but that stick just went  _further_  up your ass."

Freed didn't dignify that with a response. He simply busied himself with constructing Laxus's exercise questions. He'll give that guy a really challenging test, and the arrogant bastard will regret it. As for Mira, he'll find a way to make her answer at least one goddamn Trig question, or God help him.

They spent the next hour actually working on their respective assignments - or so Freed hoped they were working. It did look like it, though.

Mira was humming to the tune of whatever rock music it was she was listening to on her earphones, but she was also writing and she was on her second page now. Technically, the fifth page - but she claimed the others were outlines and drafts.

Laxus was sensible enough to ask Freed if he could borrow Freed's History textbook (because of course Laxus didn't have his with him) and actually looked like he was using it for reference on his essay. He even whistled appreciatively when he found the important passages already underlined and highlighted.

When Laxus did this, Mira asked Freed if she can see his notes. He gave them to her, and it looked like she was finding them useful.

After a while, Freed noticed that Laxus wasn't writing anymore.

"You're done?" he asked.

"Dude, chill." Laxus replied. He made a show of shaking his right hand. "Anyone will take a break after writing nonstop for an hour. Just resting my poor hand."

Freed simply nodded before returning to his own task. While he did this, he heard Mira speak up.

"You should've broken that hand when you broke whatshisname's face, you know. You could've been stuck here with us happily doing nothing. I don't think Justine over there's heartless enough to force you to write with an injury."

Laxus's reply sounded unimpressed. "Thanks for the suggestion, I'll remember that next time I beat someone up because they were talking shit.  _'Break your hand to avoid makeup tests'._  Sound solid."

"Who was the lucky guy anyway?" Mira asked.

Freed kept silent. He hated to admit it, but he was a bit curious about how his companions landed themselves in this mess in the first place. Yes, he's heard that it was the usual - Laxus beat someone up - but he wondered… why? If the blonde was as brash and temperamental as everyone talked about, Freed wondered why Laxus had never once threatened him so far. It was obvious he didn't like whatever it was that he's being forced to do here.

"I told you. Some pathetic loser talking shit." was Laxus's answer. He had picked his pen up again, and was reading from the textbook.

"Yeah, but what kinda shit?" Mira prodded.

Freed risked a glance at her this time. She had taken her earphones off, her chin propped up on her hands.

Laxus shrugged. "Shit about my dad."

"But you always say that your dad is shit." Mira frowned, confused. "What, it's different when it's other people, something like that?"

The blonde scoffed. "Like hell. My dad beat up my mom, beat ME up, stole money from gramps, didn't even come home when mom was dying and is still running 'round having fun with the stolen money. And he still drops by from time to time to remind us how much of a dick he is. I'm HAPPY to let other people talk shit about him."

To his surprise, Freed found himself asking, "So what was different this time?"

Laxus looked at him, then withdrew his gaze again to focus on the words in the book before him. Mira and Freed exchanged looks.

He was silent for a few moments, before he finally said, "Well, the pathetic loser said I was just like my dad."

Mira nodded. "So you broke his face."

"His nose. Didn't have time to polish my work." Laxus corrected, then turned towards Freed and with his voice dripping with sarcasm, he asked, "Have I answered your question?"

Freed frowned as he looked away. "The guy was out of line, I can see that. But you didn't have to punch him."

Laxus simply chuckled. "You're cute."

Before Freed could retort, Mira spoke up. "You talkin' about your dad actually makes me think I'm lucky I have no parents."

"My mom was nice." Laxus interjected.

"I'm sure she was. But I don't remember enough of my mom to know if she was nice or not. Ditto for dad. And since I got in the system, so far all the foster parents that took me in are only in it for the government money. They don't even pretend to be nice to us. They just straight up take our money."

"You got siblings, right?" Laxus was frowning now. "Must be a catch for the gold-diggers. Always getting a pack of three."

"Yeah. So I try to make as much trouble for 'em as I can so they'll give us up and we get bumped to another family. Maybe - y'know, just maybe - we get lucky one day and end up with decent people."

Freed found that he had stopped writing the exercise questions, and that he had been staring down at his paper for a while now, just listening to the other two talk.

All those things they said… he didn't know them before going into this.

Freed still had both of his parents. His mother and father have a stable marriage and Freed was never mistreated. He didn't know what to say to the other two… if it was appropriate to say something at all… but he didn't want them to think he didn't care. He couldn't say that he  _really_  cared enough to do  _something_  about their broken families... because family issues are private issues, it wouldn't be in his place to do anything... but at the very least Freed understood how unpleasant their situations are and he wanted them to KNOW that.

"You're quiet." he heard Laxus say, and Freed looked up to realize that the blonde was referring to him.

"Leave him be, he doesn't understand all our sad miserable lower-class sob stories, not a spoiled and rich kid like 'im. He's from a nice, happy family." Mira said with a dismissive wave.

See? They already think he wasn't capable of sympathizing with them! Freed quickly opened his mouth to prove her wrong. "Look, I-"

"It's  _nice_ , right?" Mira cut him off, looking up at the ceiling. "Rich Mama and Papa who love each other so much? Always there to tell you how  _smart_  and  _wonderful_  and  _perfect_  you are, with your A's and your piano and your recommendation letters for the best university in the country?"

"They'll probably give you a car for your birthday." Laxus added, a mocking smile on his face. "D'you go hunting with your doctor dad when he's on vacation? And your lawyer mom's always proud to talk about you with her other rich lady friends?"

"Family reunions must be a blast, with nice aunties and fun uncles and a dozen cute baby cousins. You feel soooo lucky. Must be fun-"

Freed decided he had enough. "Stop it."

The two stopped, surprised, and looked at him.

"You don't know anything." he said, glare sharp, lips pressed into a thin line as he tried to maintain his composure, to reign in his anger.

"Of course I don't." Mira chuckled, obviously not taking him seriously. "It's not like your happy family's always in the local newspaper, not like the nice old ladies 'round town always talk 'bout how perfect the Justines are, right?"

Freed scoffed, this time shaking his head at her. "And you're stupid enough to fall for that?"

Mira's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Whoa, hold up." Laxus said, curiously enough he was the one who decided to intervene. "You guys gonna start pulling each other's hair now?"

They ignored him.

"Don't call me stupid." Mira said, returning Freed's glare.

"Well, don't call me spoiled." Freed shot back. "I get that your life sucks. I get that you think I've got a better family than yours. Maybe I do. But stop assuming that I like myself so much that I can't understand what you're going through. Because I feel sorry for you. For your situation. I do. I-"

"Fucking hell I don't need your pity-"

"I don't pity you."

Mira had no answer to that. She could insist that she didn't believe it, but Freed said it so firmly she couldn't doubt his honesty.

"I don't envy you, either. It doesn't mean I'll take the opportunity to gloat about how perfect my life is. Because it isn't." he looked away, frowning deeply as he tried to focus on the chemistry questions he should be doing. "My dad's never home. My mom's sleeping with another man and we all know it and we pretend we don't. I actually told them, just last week, that I'm not straight. You know, just to get a reaction. You know what they said? They said  _'it's okay, sweetheart, you'll get over it'._  Like that part of me's just a seasonal flu. But of course they'll be there for me to take me to those fun family reunions and brag about what a great future I'll have. Because we're perfect, right? The Justines, a proud family of trophies."

Freed looked up to see that Laxus was busy pretending to continue his essay, while Mira was just watching him, expression unreadable now. He sighed in resignation. "I'm not trying to get into your good graces by saying that things suck for me too. Maybe you think what I have is better than what you do, but the fact is this: I have it. You don't. That means you don't have the right to tell me how to feel about it."

Freed knew he would regret baring himself like that, but damn he felt better. They can say that he's got a stick up his ass - he doesn't give a damn about being called a killjoy - but he won't let them say he's a self-centered spoiled brat. He didn't look up to see whatever their reactions were. Maybe they continued their essays. Maybe they didn't.

But after a few minutes, and when Freed was sure he was calm again, he said, "I'm sorry for calling you stupid. I lost my nerve. I didn't mean it."

There. Now he owed them nothing.

When their professor announced that the day's session was finished, none of them said a word as they packed up and got ready to leave. Mira moved faster than either of them. She didn't look at Freed when she gave him back his notes and a messy set of papers that must be her essay. Laxus followed more slowly. He returned Freed's textbook, his essay tucked in between the pages. To his credit, he did give Freed a soft pat on his arm before he left. Freed didn't know what the blonde meant by that, but he preferred to think it was meant as a gesture of comfort or sympathy.

As Freed sorted the various papers and books on his desk, he decided to scan their submissions, just to make sure they didn't scribble or doodle nonsense again.

Laxus's papers were surprisingly neat, folded precisely in half. He even maintained proper margin… or the draft equivalent of it. That was when Freed caught the note on the the lower right side of the last page of his essay.

In the margin, Laxus had written:

_'F. we hit a sore spot back there. won't happen again. i mean the family issues part. i'll keep annoying you though. you're cute when you're pissed. - L.'_

Freed took himself by surprise when he actually chuckled at the message. Laxus was a proud guy but Freed knows an apology when he sees one. Laxus could have said it out loud, Freed wouldn't make fun of him or anything… but a note will do for now, and was much appreciated.

Then going through Mira's papers, Freed also found a note.

It wasn't in the margins so much as it was a scribbled little box after the end of Mira's essay:

_'sorry. that was low even for me. we shouldn't bond over shitty families. let's start over?'_

At this, Freed smiled, already nodding.

.

* * *

.

"You guys write good essays. Minor corrections." Freed said as he returned their papers to them the next afternoon.

"I had help." Laxus said, scanning the corrections that Freed made using bright green ink.

Freed let out a small smile. "You're welcome."

"I meant the book." Laxus corrected.

He wasn't fazed. "You're still welcome."

Laxus reached the last page and saw that the bright green scribble on the margin wasn't a correction, but actually a reply to his note.

_'Laxus - Thanks. But if that's why you're always trying to get on my nerves, it's not appreciated. Try another tactic. P.S. Lessen your run-on sentences.'_

"Hah!" Laxus exclaimed, all-too pleased for Freed's liking. Freed narrowly dodged a mischievous poke to his side. "Cute."

"No." Freed said, half-heartedly swatting Laxus's prodding hand with his pen. "Behave. No poking."

"Keep it in your pants, Dreyar. At least for the next two hours. Please." Mira said, momentarily looking up from the corrections on her own essay to give the blonde a raised eyebrow. She returned to her papers and smirked when she saw Freed's reply to her message.

_'Apology accepted, and yes - I'd like to start over.'_

"Try to keep up, Strauss." was all Laxus said as he accepted the new sheets of paper from Freed to start rewriting his essay.

Mira did the same. "What're we doing today besides the hellish task of rewriting this shit?"

Freed returned to his desk and started working on his homework. "You're going to do that Trig exercise you doodled on last Monday. And Laxus will answer some chem questions again. We need to produce results from this week's sessions, other than your essay."

Laxus snorted. "You come up with actual questions this time?"

Freed didn't bother looking at him. "Oh, you'll see."

"I don't understand Trig." Mira said.

"Good news. That's what I'm here for." Freed replied, giving her a short, curt smile. "Let me know if you're done."

"I've been done since day one, but whatever."

.

An hour later, Mira has been able to answer a total of three items in her paper. When Freed confirmed that they were all correct so far, she promptly gave up trying to pretend she wasn't baffled by how it happened.

"If my professor explained it to me like you did, I wouldn't have to deal with this bullshit! I would've gone through this in a breeze- oh, shit, item four. I know how to do this one! It's like the first item, isn't it?!"

"Yes, it is." Freed said helpfully. He and Mira had moved their desks together so he could tutor her more closely. "It's always confusing at first but once you get the hang of it, you can see which ones can be solved using the same method."

"Right, right. Okay, lemme do this one." she said, excited to try out her newfound tricks.

Meanwhile, Laxus has finished reading through the fresh set of questions Freed prepared for him. The only thing he was able to say was  _"What the fuck."_

"Yes, Laxus? Is it still too easy for you?" Freed chimed, a little too nicely to be innocent.

"What is your damage." Laxus looked at him, incredulous. "Where the hell did you even get these questions?!"

"Our textbook, of course." Freed said, feigning nonchalance. "And I double-checked with your professor, she confirmed that those were all discussed in your classes. Surely you know them, since you claim you didn't miss anything."

"I get it now." Laxus nodded, as if realizing something. "You're mad at me."

Freed blinked innocently. "Me? Mad? Why would I be mad at you? We're getting along so well."

"Goddamn, I'm not pissing you off again." the blonde shook his head in resignation as he started to actually work on the questions. He might have already lost this battle, but he's not going down without a fight.

The session passed quickly for all three of them that day. Mira and Laxus didn't pass their papers until the professor said they were dismissed. Even then they were willing to stay to watch Freed check their answers. They were let down, however, when Freed simply put the papers in his trusty folder, hurrying to leave because he had a scheduled appointment he has to get to. He promised they'll have their scores the next day.

That night, Freed was sitting in the study desk in his bedroom as he went through the papers to check their answers.

He rolled his eyes upon noticing that there were notes in the margins again.

On Laxus's writing, it said:

_'trying to get on your nerves? that's where you're wrong. i'm not trying to get on your nerves, i'm trying to get in your pants.'_

Freed paused, read it again, and stared at the paper blankly.

Then he looked at Mira's:

_'so do you like girls or not?'_

Freed looked up at the ceiling. He prided himself on the fact that these past three days, he always had a strong comeback for everything the two delinquents threw at him. He can always play their game. They never leave him speechless.

But now? Now he had nothing.

And he wasn't one for thinking out loud, but he found himself actually saying, "How on earth am I supposed to respond to these?"

.

* * *

.

His reply came to him as soon as he saw them the next day. He was giving them their marked papers when he replied, to both of them - out loud.

"To address your concerns about… some stuff…" he started, but noticed that he didn't sound confident. So he took a deep breath before he continued, in a more decisive voice: "No, Laxus, you may not get in my pants. And yes, Mira, girls are fine. I think. Not sure yet. But I have no time for those kinds of things right now."

Laxus raised an eyebrow before looking at him with a kicked-puppy pout that looked out of place in his face. "Well. Ouch. You wound me, Freed. My fragile heart is broken now. It will never recover. I will carry this pain throughout the rest of my life."

It would be touching if his delivery wasn't so monotonous.

"You look weird, doing that with your face." Freed told him. "And flirting with me will not save you from what we've got planned for today."

Then Mira asked, "Okay, so do you ever do anything fun? Just… honestly curious. 'Cause your answer is the answer of someone who has never had fun, ever."

Freed sat down as he thought about it. "Um… I read."

They both groaned in exasperation at the answer.

"Anyways, if I've addressed all your questions, here's another set of exercises."

It almost made Freed laugh, seeing them both bury their faces in their hands at the same time.

"These questions are from your professors. Think of it as a make-up test. Mira, here's more Trig. I reviewed it, you should be fine after what you learned yesterday. Laxus, chem. No writing on the margins this time. Because I'm not keeping those papers. They're going to the prof after I mark them."

To their credit, they both accepted the new batch of test questions and extra scratch papers. Freed could say a lot of things about their approach to high school, but he couldn't argue that they weren't fighters. If anything fueled them to get through these sessions, it's the simple fact that they won't let anyone say they backed down out of anything.

Laxus finished thirty minutes before the session ended. Mira was still soldiering on. She claimed that she was answering slowly but surely.

And because Laxus still had half an hour to kill, he urged Freed to check his answers right away. Freed thought there was no reason to deny him that, so he took the paper and began marking. As he did this, Laxus pulled up a chair to sit beside him and watch closely.

"Do I get a reward if I get a high score?" he asked, so far satisfied at the many correct answers he was seeing.

"Of course." Freed answered, not looking up from his task. "I'll stop bothering you about Chemistry. Your professor, too. And the school counselor."

Laxus snorted. "Not very rewarding."

"You're actually lucky you haven't been suspended." this time, Freed looked up at him. "What kind of reward did you have in mind anyway?"

"Oh my God, why did you ask?" came from Mira. "Seriously, you should've known better. Oh shit, I can't listen to this.  _Nope_."

Freed just blinked, clueless.

"Ignore her, the math's got her brain fried." Laxus said with a dismissive wave. "How about this, that's 80 items, right? If I score 60 or higher-"

Freed cut in quickly, "Not good enough. 70 or higher."

"DON'T BARGAIN." Mira hissed.

Laxus paused, considered, and then nodded. "I think I can manage. 70 or higher." Then he grinned, and this time he crossed his arms across his chest. "If I score 70 or higher, I get a kiss."

The answer took only a second. "Sure."

Laxus grinned, pleased with himself while Mira practically screeched  _"WHAAAAT?!"_

Then Freed smiled, handing Laxus his paper back. "Done. 68 out of 80. Not bad. I'm pretty sure this will pull your grade up."

Almost immediately, Laxus's face fell, and Mira could only do so much to stifle her laughter. She pointed at him. "HAH! How's it goin', Lightning McShow-off?"

Laxus narrowed his eyes at her. "You worry 'bout yourself, Angelface. You only got 10 minutes left."

"Well, I'm done too." Mira huffed, stalking over to them with her chair and papers. She set her chair on Freed's other side and dropped her paper of answers on Freed's desk. "Go check it now, I wanna know how I did."

"Not gonna ask for a reward?" Freed asked as he looked down at the paper and then started marking.

Mira scoffed, leaning forward to peer closer at her paper. "Only Dreyar can be so dumb. Hah! Look, I got that one right!"

"You wish you had this wonderful brain, Strauss." Laxus said. He grabbed a small pad of post-its lying among Freed's pens and reviewers, then started scribbling something on it with one of Freed's sharpies.

"Please don't waste valuable paper." Freed said distractedly, both he and Mira too focused with checking the Trig answers to really bother with him.

"I'm just getting the one, don't worry."

There were several quiet minutes of scribbling and marking, and then the silence was broken when Mira screamed. "WHOOOOO, YEAH, GET IT, 45 OUT OF 60! I KILLED IT! IN YOUR FACE, TRIGONOMETRY!"

Laxus actually found it in himself to whistle and give her a slow clap of approval. Freed laughed softly as he watched Mira doing a victory dance and jumping around with her papers.

"Congratulations, Mira, that was great-... oh. Hey, um- could you not- the papers, we have to submit that to your prof-… oh. Oh boy. Please get down from that table. Don't- Don't do it, don't jump in there!"

Their teacher-in-charge peered in to tell them that they can go. He stopped midway when he saw Mira on top of the table.

"Yo, geezer! Guess who killed her make-up test?!" Mira said, waving her papers proudly before striking a pose. "This girl!"

The man simply smiled at her. "Good for you, Miss Strauss. Now get down from that table and go home, alright?"

"Right, right!"

Laxus got up and grabbed his bag. He handed Freed a folded piece of post-it, winked and then left.

Meanwhile, Mira had actually bothered to wipe her shoeprints off the table.

Freed unfolded the post-it to read Laxus's message:

_'if you ever change your mind. or whatever other reason you can think of.'_

Below those words was a string of digits that Freed assumed must be Laxus's cellphone number.

"Well shit, the bastard works fast." Mira said from behind him, making him jump. When did she get there?! Freed whirled around to look at her. She slung her bag over her shoulder, looking at him critically. "Do you like that guy? Because if you do, I'm disappointed. I'm clearly the better choice here."

Freed rolled his eyes as he chuckled. "Of course you are."

"That's right." She nodded reverently, then tilted her head to the side as she asked, "D'you take the bus home?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Wanna go together?"

Freed blinked once, but picked up his bag anyway and nodded. "Sure."

Mira grinned, looping an arm around his and pulling him with her.

.

* * *

.

"We only got an hour today." Freed announced when he stepped inside the room. "Your professors are pleased that you passed your make-up tests and they said they don't want to keep students in here too long on a Friday."

"Sweet." Mira piped up from her comfortable position, feet propped up on her desk as always while she tapped and swiped on her phone. From the faint sounds Freed was hearing, she was playing a game.

Laxus, who was flipping through a comic book, glanced up for a bit. "We're done with the tests, right? What're we supposed to do today?"

Freed sat down and took out his notebook and papers to get started on his homework. "They didn't tell me anything, really. So maybe it's free period. It's your last day anyway."

"Aw, and here I was, getting ready to answer more chem questions..." Laxus sighed.

Freed looked at him, an eyebrow raised.

The blonde snorted. "No shit. I ain't taking any of your goddamn demon exams anymore. That shit was hard as hell."

Freed simply sighed. "Don't you ever get tired of swearing?"

"Hell no. But you should try it sometime."

"No, thank you." Freed responded blankly. "Just please tone it down. It can be distracting, and I'm doing my homework."

"Wear your earphones, put some music on, damn."

"I don't bring my earphones to school."

Mira joined in. "Seriously?"

A shrug. "I never need them."

"Okay, then." Laxus said, smirking again. "What will you do if I go through this whole session without swearing?"

Freed almost laughed at the proposition. Laxus loves to bargain, he knows that now. "I'll thank you."

"How?"

"I'll say: Thank you, Laxus."

"No really, give me some incentive. I'm bored as fuck in here, and we've got… what, 50 more minutes to go? I'll piss you off for real."

Freed sighed, too eager to be left in peace so he caved in. "Fine, if you don't swear, and keep your voice down until the end of this thing, I'll… uh…" he thought about it, and then remembered the note Laxus left with him yesterday. "I'll give you my number."

Laxus grinned in victory. "I'll hold you to that, Justine."

"Right, whatever, I'm studying. Go back to your book." Freed waved him off. It can't be that bad, right?

But this time, Mira was the one who squeaked. "Holy shit, you're going to bone anytime now, are you? Dammit, Freed! This is why we can't have nice things! I told you not to let him seduce you! Preferably let me seduce you instead, but, you know. Wait, I was going somewhere with this."

Freed furrowed his brows, pouting. "What? Pardon me, but I'm not going to 'bone' anyone." he said, making a quoting gesture to emphasize his point. "It's unprofessional."

Laxus held back a laugh.

Mira sighed in exasperation. "Unprofession- Freed. Please. You're NOT a teacher, you're a goddamn student - LIKE US. You can bone us as you please."

Freed made a strangled noise at the back of his throat. "Eww?"

"Me first, though." Laxus interjected.

Freed looked at him incredulously.

"Keep dreaming, Scarface." Mira said.

"Okay, please stop now. I am going to do my homework." Freed said, this time he was the one to bury his face in his hands. He would be lying if he claimed that he had never been… propositioned… before, but he had never quite met anyone who had put it out there so bluntly.

But now there's two of them.

They're both insane.

He heard prompt replies of _"Roger."_  and _"Shutting."_  and appreciated the peace that came with it. He can focus on his homework now.

Mira spent the next hour playing her game. She claimed that she was supposed to stay focused on it all night long or all her hard work will go to waste. She said something about other people attacking her settlement or something like that. Freed never really understood the thing about games like those so he shrugged and let her be. When Laxus finished his comic book, he boredly reached out towards Freed's desk, checked the books and papers that Freed weren't using, and then finally settled on one textbook and took it.

Mira teased him for it. "Are you actually studying?"

"Shut up, I've run out of stuff to read."

"Help me defend my base." she suggested.

"Nope." he said. "Ain't got patience for that and I'm tryin' to be good today."

"Oh, as if."

Laxus shrugged. "Well I think I'm doing a pretty good job so far. Am I, Freed?"

"More reading, less talking, please." Freed replied, not looking up from his work.

"Yes, sir." Laxus replied dutifully, stopping on a chapter and considering the text before proceeding to read.

The end of their week-long detention was uneventful. Freed would admit that he didn't expect things to turn out this way… He thought he'll just have to endure sitting with two annoying delinquents for five days, gaining nothing from it besides some credit for his effort, reflected in his record. Now he found that he got to know quite a bit about his two companions, and that he didn't dislike their company all that much. He couldn't say that he'll actively seek them out after this, but he could safely say he won't be avoiding them, and would be on greeting terms with them at least.

The professor came in to tell them that it's time to go home, and they all began packing up to do so.

Laxus handed Freed his book back with a smirk. "No swearing as promised."

Freed shrugged helplessly as he accepted the item. "Fine. I'll text you something, whatever. Go home now."

"Nice." was all Laxus said, leaving ahead of them. "Oi, Strauss, good luck with that base."

"I don't need luck, I need more defense." Mira said, waiting for Freed to finish packing. When she was sure Laxus was out of earshot, she said, "You know you just made a deal with the devil, right?"

"Who, Laxus?"

"Who else?"

"It's just my number. I can block him if he goes overboard or anything."

Freed had finished up and they left the room together, a silent agreement that they'll take the same bus home again.

"Give me your phone." Mira said.

"I'm not helping you with your game." Freed replied.

"No, not that. C'mon, just give it."

He took his phone out, unlocked it and then handed the gadget to her, hesitant. He didn't know why he did, but if these past few days have taught him anything, it's that Mira isn't that bad of a person. He watched as she went through his contacts, tapped a few times, and then gave it back to him.

"You gave me your number." Freed said blankly, looking at his updated contact list.

She shrugged, returning to her game. "If he does anything fishy, hit me up and I'll beat him up for you. Or if you want to make out with me and touch my boobs. Either way is fine."

"I don't understand you." Freed remarked, but smiled lightly. "Both of you."

"We like you, what's so hard to understand 'bout that?" she asked, looping her arm around his as they walked out the school gates. "You never been liked before?"

"No, but you two are-... Nevermind. Will it offend you if I change your name in my contacts?"

"What's wrong with that one?"

Freed looked at her pointedly. " _'Mirajane Strauss Is Better Than Laxus Dreyar'_ , really?"

She simply laughed. "What? I am, obvs! And if you're gonna make out with him instead of me, at least let me get away with a cooler name in your phone."

Freed promptly gave up. He didn't tell Mira that he doesn't plan on making out with either her or Laxus anytime soon (or ever, really, if he were to be realistic here) but maybe it would be useful to have the contact numbers of two of the most notorious delinquents in school.

He didn't know what he'll do with that, honestly, but he found that he didn't want to think too much about it, as he listened to Mira ranting on about her obsession with her game.

.

Later that night, Freed decided to send some messages. He promised Laxus, after all, and he would not go back on his word. As for Mira, he felt it would be unfair not to send her one.

**_'Good evening. Freed here. Just want to let you know you can contact me through this number if you ever need any help with Trig or Chem again.  
I'll see you around school, I guess.'_ **

Mira replied first.

_[ 'wtf freed u text like a goddamn letter of complaint are u aware of this?' ]_

_**'I just prefer to read things with proper punctuation.'** _

_[ 'awwwwww well im not gonna start punctuating any time soon so get used to it go to sleep now i bet it's past ur bedtime and my base is being attacked right fucking now so bye nighty night talk to you tmr mwaaaah' ]_  - and it was followed by a long string of emojis that depicted, the moon, stars, clouds, sleeping, praying, and a kiss.

So Mira was that kind of person.

And then there was Laxus, who clearly took the effort to send a reply to match his message:

_[ 'Thank you for the message, Freed. I appreciate your concern about my studies. I'll be sure to take advantage of this wonderful and new method of communication you have opened between us. Yours truly, Laxus.' ]_

Freed sent an honest reply: ** _'That is the weirdest and scariest thing you've said to me. Ever.'_**

_[ 'HAHAHA I KNEW YOU'D SAY THAT! okay i won't do it again. made my brain hurt. but worth it.' ]_

Freed sighed, questioned his choices, and then decided that he should just go to sleep.

.

* * *

.

Freed very seldom went out during weekends. He usually spent his day just reading, or flipping through TV channels. His family had a housemaid and a kitchen maid, but both of them usually kept themselves busy and out of his sight besides mealtimes. He wasn't a picky eater. He doesn't make requests often. He just ate whatever they cooked, then returned to solitude.

Now that he thought about it, that was kinda boring indeed. But it's too late now, he was too used to it, he doesn't even mind anymore.

Freed very seldom texted his friends too. He had no best friends to speak of, just some classmates and schoolmates he'd known for years, but he wouldn't really consider close to. He texted them sometimes, mostly about school stuff, if they had a project together or things like that.

So it was new to him when, while he was sitting on the couch to start reading the new paperback novel he bought the week prior, he received a text.

_[ 'hey Freed?' ]_

It was Laxus. Before Freed could reply, he received another.

_[ 'do you want to see my dick?' ]_

Oh no.

Freed had never texted back faster in his life.

_**'NO'** _

_**'LAXUS NO'** _

But then there it was. And like a trainwreck, Freed could only stare dumbfoundedly as the foreboding gray square appeared in his phone screen.

Then after a second, the image loaded.

It was… yellow, mostly.

Roundish, fluffy, with… with two black beady eyes and an orange beak- Wait.

It was a baby duck.

A baby duck sitting on something that looked suspiciously like someone's half-finished math homework.

Freed gathered himself and let out a sigh of relief before replying.

_**'Oh my God. That was scary. Why do you like scaring me so much?'** _

Laxus replied with: _['why what did i do?']_

And after a second: _['are you scared of ducks? sorry i didn't know.']_

Another second:  _['oh wait i texted dick. is that it? sorry autocorrect hahaha did you freak out?']_

Freed chuckled.  _ **'Yes. Anyway. Its a cute duck, Laxus.'**_

_['his name is raijin.']_

Laxus had named the duck, what in the world…?

_**'Why do you have a duck?'** _

_['a boy has to have a pet, freed. do you have a pet?']_

Freed shrugged, and thought of the little pet cage in his room.  **'I have a hedgehog named Sonic.'**

_['SONIC HAHAHA YOU NERD']_

**_'DON'T JUDGE ME.'_ **

_['hedgehogs are cool. show me Sonic. cmon.']_

Freed didn't know why, but he picked up his book to go to his room and snap a photo of his pet. The hedgehog was a quiet little thing happily rolling a ping pong ball around his cage. He sent the photo to Laxus and waited for a reply.

_['he looks like he's having fun. you should learn from him.']_

**_'I was having fun reading when you interrupted.'_  **Freed replied as he laid back on his bed, his book resting on his stomach.

_['i know reading can be fun. but cmon you read for 5 days a week, take a break.']_

**_'Okay. Also… why did you send me a photo of your pet anyway?'_ **

_['idk. i was looking for a reason to text you and i was hanging out with raijin so i thought. two birds with one stone, right?']_

Then Freed asked Laxus how he ended up with a pet duck in the first place. Laxus was in the middle of sending several long text messages of the story when he said he had to go because his grandfather was asking him to help fix something.

Freed returned to his reading, but he only got to one chapter before his phone alerted him with a message again.

He figured it must be Laxus, back to continue the exciting tale of how he ended up rescuing a baby duck.

Instead, there's a message from Mira.

_['ok i just woke up and my base is safe and i remember telling u to go away last night so hi what's up']_

Freed sighed. He resisted the urge to ask her to punctuate her messages because he was sure she'll ignore the suggestion. Instead, he started to type in a reply…

What's up? Freed ought to tell her he was currently reading, but then he thought of something more interesting.

_**'Laxus sent me a photo of his duck.'** _

It took a full minute for Mira to reply.

_['is that autocorrect or']_

**_'Do you want to see?'_ **

_['FUCK NO I DONT WANNA SEE DONT DO IT I BEG YOU']_

And so Freed forwarded the cute photo of the duckling to Mira, trying his best to suppress his laughter. It was too early to celebrate...

Another minute before the reply came:

_['jesus christ that was terrifying you can be a terrible terrible person freed']_

Freed finally laughed. He wanted to type in a reply but Mira beat him to it by sending another message.

_['btw gimme the bastards number']_

_**'I'm not sure I should do that without his permission…'** _

_['god why are u such a proper person fiiiiine ill find a way to get it']_

Meanwhile, in the Dreyar household, Laxus was busy helping his grandfather take out some old furniture from the house's attic. It was then that his phone vibrated from his back pocket. He raised an eyebrow, not expecting Freed to send a message after he actually said he's got a chore to do…

It was from an unknown number, and it was a short message.

_['NICE DUCK SCARFACE']_

Ah. He smirked. It wasn't Freed, but he appreciated it anyway.

His reply was just as prompt.

_['your move, strauss.']_

.

* * *

.

It was early on Sunday afternoon when Freed got a text from Laxus. The blonde got too busy with helping his grandfather that he didn't have time to continue his Baby Duck Rescue story from the day prior.

_['so has angelface done anything yet?']_

Freed blinked curiously. ** _'I'm helping her with her Trig homework. Giving some tips.'_**

_['shit she's got me beat there.']_

**_'I can help you with homework too if you need it. I'm done with mine.'_ **

_['naw i don't need your help. i'm good at school']_

_' **Well, if you say so...'**_

_['i need help with something else though... and you're just the right person to ask…']_

**_'Laxus. If you make a tasteless joke here, while I'm trying to focus on a math question, I will block you.'_ **

_['i've got these dark red pants on, should i wear the purple shirt or the black?']_

That made Freed pause. He really could never tell what goes on in that guy's head. He replied. _ **'Black.'**_

Laxus sent him a thumbs up emoji and then nothing after that. Freed just accepted it as his thanks. Then he decided to check up on his other… acquaintance? Friend? Are they really in those terms now?

**_'Did you solve that problem?'_ **

_['yup i just did thanks for the help!']_  - and then it ended with a series of happy emoji faces.

**_'May I ask what game you and Laxus are playing?'_ **

['we both have a crush on u freed if its not obvs enough']

**_'Um. Is that serious? I can't tell.'_ **

['oh its serious as fuck']

**_'Can we cancel that or something?'_ **

['too late sweetcakes']

.

An hour or so later, as Freed got back to his bedroom from a short trip to the kitchen to fetch some snacks, he heard a short tapping sound from his window. He turned to look at it curiously, seeing nothing out of the ordinary… until a pebble hit the glass again. Not enough to break it, but it was loud and noticeable enough.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." he mumbled to himself as he stepped forward.

He waited for another pebble to hit the window again before throwing it open and looking out into the street for whoever the hell was making such a racket.

Laxus was standing by the sidewalk, and upon seeing Freed spot him, he dropped the rest of the pebbles from his hand. "Yo." he said, not quite a shout, but loud enough for Freed to hear him clearly. "I'm coming up there." Laxus announced, and then he stepped forward and proceeded to actually. Climb up. The side of the Justine's house, using a pipe, bricks and window frames as hand and foot holds.

"Laxus! What are you doing?! Stop that, you're gonna hurt yourself!"

But Laxus was already at his bedroom window before Freed could talk some sense into him.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Freed scolded, eyes narrowed at the blonde who propped himself up on his window ledge.

"Dad came home and fought with gramps and he's gone now, but gramps is grumpy. I don't wanna deal with that shit right now."

"That doesn't explain why you're here."

Laxus snorted. "Because nowadays my head's just alternating between thinking about my shitty family situation, and thinking about you. I thought I'd drop by and hang out. You said you're always alone in here."

"I'm not. There are two maids downstairs."

"They don't count if you hardly even talk to them. But if you really don't want me here, just push me off this window right now. No hard feelings, and I'll survive." Laxus said bluntly, then as an afterthough, he added, "Mostly."

"No hard feelings?" Freed raised an eyebrow. "You swear?"

"I swear on my pet duck."

"It's not that I don't want to hang out with you. You're… nice to me. Which I appreciate." Freed looked down, frowning. "It's just… I don't like surprises much, Laxus."

"Hey, it's fine." Laxus said, reaching out to give the green-haired teen a soft pat on his shoulder. "Next time I'll let 'ya know. You can consult your schedule or whatever it is you do. Now I'll leave. Just, uh, lemme get into a good position for climbing down-"

But before Laxus could fully turn and start his trip down the wall again, Freed grabbed his sleeve.

"No, stay." he said softly, then stepped back to let Laxus in through his window. "You're right. I'm always alone in here. But yes, next time, you tell me if you're coming over."

Laxus didn't say anything as he stepped inside the other teen's bedroom. He whistled appreciatively after a quick look around. "Nice digs."

"It's not anything special-"

"Hey, that's Sonic, right?" Laxus was already making his way across the room to check on the hedgehog cage. He poked the little creature and it grabbed at his finger enthusiastically. Laxus chuckled. "See, I was right, he's a fun little dude."

"He's friendly." Freed said, sitting down on his bed and picking up his book and flipping it open again.

Laxus took one of the small stuffed animals lying around on the cage and handed it to Sonic, who proceeded to cuddle it. He grinned, then turned towards Freed. His expression turned to that of exasperation. "Are you actually still studying on a Sunday?"

Freed pouted at him. "I'm reading a novel."

"Huh." at this, the blonde decided he'd join Freed on the bed. Freed moved to the center of the bed, leaning his back against the headboard, while Laxus lazily lounged on the mattress beside him. Laxus crossed his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling as he asked, "What's it about?"

"It's fiction, about a swordsman and a scholar, and they get up to… shenanigans. Lots of swordfighting and things in it."

"Hmm…" Laxus considered that. "Is it good?"

"So far."

"Nice." Laxus mumbled. He was quiet for a while before speaking up again. "I know I'm bothering you, but I'm just curious..."

"What?"

"This is really how you spend your weekends?"

Freed took his time before putting his book down and answering. "It's not as bad as it looks."

"I know. Being alone is fun. Reading is fun. I like being alone and reading. Quiet time is good. But all weekend? Every weekend?"

"Most." Freed corrected glumly. "Most weekends. Sometimes there are… events. And I don't just read. I watch TV too."

"What time do your parents get home?"

"Late." came the soft answer. "They come home late and tired and I can understand that. That's what their jobs demand. I try to be there for them, but… sometimes, no-... most of the time now, it feels like they don't want me to be. Like I shouldn't try, like somehow that makes them more… tired."

Laxus didn't speak, or move, or look at his companion.

"Do you ever feel like that?" Freed asked him. "Like you're extra weight, a liability?"

Slowly, Laxus nodded. He kept silent as he held his hand out to his companion. Freed stared at it for a while, then looked at Laxus. The blonde shrugged. "You look like you need it."

With a sigh, Freed bit his lip and reached out to place his hand on Laxus's, and they twined their fingers together. "Thanks, I guess."

It was comforting, in a way. When was the last time he held someone's hand? Laxus's hand was bigger than his, and the blonde's grip was strong. It made Freed feel more secure, more grounded… less likely to cry.

Laxus hummed his reply, looking interestedly at the stars and planets on Freed's bedroom ceiling.

Freed looked at the book in his lap, considered, and then set it aside. He shifted to lie on the bed beside his companion. "So how did you find Raijin? You didn't finish the story yesterday."

At this, the blonde smirked, then cleared his throat. "Alright. You ready for this?"

.

Freed didn't remember falling asleep.

He didn't remember turning to his side, laying his head on Laxus's shoulder, or snuggling comfortably against the guy.

But he somehow woke up in that position, and he instantly sat up in surprise at the realization. Laxus groaned, frowning in his sleep. But he didn't wake up, and instead burrowed his face on one of Freed's fluffy pillows. Strangely enough, it reminded Freed of his pet hedgehog.

Freed rubbed his eyes warily. What time is it? He checked the alarm clock on the bedside table and sighed. It was 5:30 PM. He slept for… what, two hours? He wondered how long Laxus had been sleeping-... God, which of them fell asleep first? Freed couldn't remember…

He ought to wake Laxus up. His grandfather might be looking for him. But the blonde looked so comfortable, sleeping in Freed's bed. Then Freed frowned. Was this even appropriate? Yes, they didn't do anything besides literally doze off in one bed, but his parents... hell, the maids didn't even know he had someone over-

Would they care, though? Freed wasn't so sure about that now. He closed his eyes and laid back down on the bed. He looked at Laxus, still sleeping peacefully beside him, and then he took the blonde's arm and draped it over himself as he snuggled against his companion again. Freed buried his head against Laxus's chest and clung to his shirt.

It's nice to be this close to someone once in a while.

But after only a few minutes of peace, Laxus woke up, lifting his head from the pillow and looking around. He looked down to see the top of Freed's head and blinked blearily. "Shit, what time is it?" he whispered.

"Almost six." Freed mumbled against his shirt.

Laxus looked at him, surprised that he was awake. His brows furrowed as he ran a hand through long green hair. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Freed shook his head. "Nothing." He didn't look up or draw away.

"Right. And I'm not blonde." Laxus snorted, but even as he sounded unimpressed, he wrapped his arms around the other teen, holding Freed snugly against him.

"I just… I don't know, I…" Freed was mumbling against Laxus' shirt. "Sorry, it's just-... it felt… I was cold."

Laxus stifled his chuckle. "Mm-hm. Just say you need hugs. It's okay."

Freed looked up at him, glaring slightly. "It's just this once."

"Sure, sure." Laxus sniggered, his expression amused and teasing. "Do you need kisses too?"

"Why do you ask? So you can win whatever bet you have with Mira?"

Laxus blinked. He didn't expect that reaction. "What?"

Freed looked away this time. "That's the only reason I can think of, why you two are so eager about… me."

Laxus loosened his hug. "...You think Mira and I have a bet on who could kiss you first?"

"Something like that." Freed said, brushing the blonde's arms off him as he sat up. "I mean, I show up to give you two exercises during detention and then somehow, in just a few days, both of you are flirting with me."

"Because we like you, duh?" Laxus also sat up. "Am I gonna spell it out for you?"

"Try me." Freed challenged.

Laxus scratched his head. "You're good-looking, smart, honest, and not stuck-up. And you're pretty chill. I think those are good enough reasons to like you, so… I figured… I'd hang out and… y'know."

Freed frowned. "What about Mira?"

"I dunno, she likes you too, probably. If she's just bein' competitive, that's her deal, not mine. Anyway, I don't think her girlfriend would mind if she wants to fool around with other people-"

"Mira has a girlfriend?" Freed blinked. That was new information.

"Yeah, it's a long distance thing, and open. Least as I remember her saying one time. Pretty brunette she met in a foster home from next town over." Laxus answered dismissively. "But the thing is, she likes you enough to hang out with you. We both do. You're pretty cool."

"I'm not." Freed grumbled.

"You have a pet hedgehog. You're cool." Laxus argued. "Wait, is that why you kept turning us both down? 'Cause you think we're playin' with you?"

"I was SURE you were playing with me." Freed still looked hesitant. "There's no bet? No game? Between you two?"

"We have stupid bets on what team would win a game, or if some idiot can score points, but I don't like bets that mean I'll bully some decent person into making out with me. People who do those things are scum."

Freed looked at him, searching, and when Laxus held his stare for a good amount of time, he gave up, sighing. "Okay."

"Okay?" Laxus asked. "What d'you mean? You're okay? I'm okay? What kinda vague answer is that?"

Freed looked away and hugged his knees to his chest. "We're okay."

"So…" Laxus started, leaning back on the pillows again. Damn, Freed has nice pillows. "You're fine with me hanging out with you."

Freed shrugged and didn't look at him. "It's a welcome change, I guess. I never hang out with anyone. But I bet you'll find me boring real soon."

The blonde snorted. "We'll see. I'm pretty boring too."

"You're not boring." Freed pouted. "You and Mira. You say what you want to say. You do… stuff. Hang out with everyone and go to parties and make out with whoever you want."

"It gets pretty boring too."

"Still not as boring as Goody-Two-Shoes Justine, I wager." Freed scoffed.

"Hell, no." Laxus laughed. "You're not a goody-two-shoes. Believe me. If you were a goody-two-shoes, you would have broken down. Crying. On day one when I started trashing you."

Freed found himself laughing too. "I guess that's correct."

"You're meaner than you look."

"Damn right I am."

Laxus laughed again. " _'Damn'?_  That's the best you got?"

Freed sent him a daring smile. He finally loosened up from his little ball of misery, and leaned back against the pillows beside Laxus, their shoulders touching.

They were quiet for a while before Freed breathed deeply and started to talk. "Um… I've never kissed anyone before. That's why I didn't want to kiss you based on your test scores."

Laxus tilted his head to look at his companion. "Really?" Freed nodded. "Are you one of those people who think the first should be with someone special or something?"

"Not really. It's… I just didn't have… anyone. It never came up, before."

Laxus paused to think about how he should approach the topic. Was it an invitation? He didn't know. And he didn't really want to think too much about it. He should just say the first thing- wait, no. The first thing that came to mind was _'Let me kiss you then.'_  That seemed to be doomed to fail. So he went with the second: "You wanna… uh… try?"

Another nod, and Freed looked back at him with a straight face. "You've kissed a lot of people before."

"M'sure it's actually less than you think."

"How do you do it?"

"Do what? Kiss?"

"No. How do you decide that you want to kiss someone, or that you're going to do it, and why?"

"That sounds like an essay question." Laxus said, holding back a laugh. "And you know how much I suck at essays."

"Your essay was good."

"Fine. But I hate essays." he groaned. "Can you give me a simpler question?"

Freed thought about it. "What will happen if I let you kiss me?"

"Well, I'll do it. Gladly."

"...and then? Do we have to date, after?"

Laxus sighed. "You really like being safe and sure 'bout your shit, do you?"

"I like always knowing what I'm getting myself into."

"How about this?" Laxus started, turning over to hover above his companion and stare down at Freed. "It's an experiment, this time. You helped me with my make-up tests, so I'm returning the favor by… err… going through this… experience...? With you? No attachments afterwards."

Freed didn't ask him to keep his word. Freed somehow knew that Laxus always did.

"Okay." Freed breathed deeply, bracing himself. "That sounds fair."

"Just don't think too hard about it." Laxus advised, and before Freed could change his mind, they were already kissing.

Freed closed his eyes and let Laxus lead, content to lie back against the soft pillows and sheets with Laxus above him. They shared several slow, deliberate kisses, Laxus letting Freed get the hang of it. When they parted, Laxus looked into Freed's eyes for permission to continue. Freed blinked up at him expectantly - a yes, if Laxus ever saw one - so he moved to wrap an arm around the other teen's waist and pull him closer. Freed let out a small moan when he felt their bodies pressed together, and his hands flew up to cling to Laxus' shirt as they started kissing again, this time quicker, more intent on knowing more about each other.

Laxus moved his hand from Freed's waist to gently feel his sides and his back, fingers carding messily through long green hair before his hand crept back down, resting back on Freed's hips for a second. Then he reached up again, this time feeling the skin under Freed's shirt.

But then Freed pushed them apart in alarm. He whispered breathlessly, voice and eyes slightly panicked as his hand flew to grip Laxus' wrist. "Laxus-... Wait, don't- I don't want-"

"Sorry, sorry." Laxus said quickly as he withdrew his roaming hand from his companion's back, and moved it instead to cup Freed's chin in a gesture of reassurance. He let out a slow breath, their foreheads touching. "I got caught up- I won't do it if you don't want me to. Don't worry."

Freed looked back at him gratefully, letting go of Laxus' wrist. He rested his hands on the blonde's chest instead, and stared at them.

"Do you want to stop? Just say it. We'll stop." Laxus asked, his voice softer than Freed had ever heard before. He didn't sound upset, simply curious, and slightly concerned.

"I just realized." Freed started, smiling a crooked little smile. "You should have worn the purple shirt."

Laxus stared at him for a full second, then tucked his head on Freed's shoulder as he laughed. "What the hell."

Freed chuckled. "Thanks for the… uh… experience."

"Now that's just weird." Laxus leaned back again to look at the other teen's face. "Let me give you a tip: Nobody says 'thanks for kissing me' after kissing someone. So? What d'you think?"

"It's nice." Freed said with a small smile. "I think we should continue."

"Good answer."

This time, Freed was the one who leaned in, and Laxus was only too pleased to melt against him. Freed let his hands wander from Laxus' chest, to the blonde's shoulders, his face, and his hair. Laxus kept one hand on Freed's waist, the other gently caressing his cheek.

He withdrew for a bit to grin a satisfied grin at Freed's flushed face. "Damn, you're pretty."

"Thanks...?" Freed blinked. "What is it?"

"Nothing, just…" his hand trailed from the blushing cheek down to Freed's neck. His fingers moved to brush strands of green hair away. "I kinda wanna leave something here. If you're okay with that."

Freed looked back up at him, about to say 'no', knowing Laxus would respect that. But then again, they were already past their planned simple kiss...

Freed turned away shyly. "Just one." he said.

"You don't look sure." Laxus frowned.

"Do it." Freed said, this time, more firm. "Just make sure it'll be easy to hide."

Laxus smirked. "Got it." he said. Freed held back a shiver when he felt warm lips against his neck. He closed his eyes, bit his lip and tugged lightly on blonde hair as Laxus trailed butterfly kisses down to his shoulder-

Then they were interrupted by the sound of a particularly loud engine from outside the house, followed by very loud honking. They thought it would fade right away, but the honking got insistent, enough to wake the whole neighborhood.

Finally they gave up and broke away from each other. "The fuck is that racket?" Laxus grumbled, while Freed sat up, frowning. "Does that always happen 'round here?"

"No." Freed said, straightening his shirt and hopping off his bed. Laxus followed warily and they both headed to look out the window.

On the road was a noisy, beat-up, dark red classic pick-up truck. There was nothing on the back of the truck, but there was a very familiar person on the driver's seat.

Mira squinted at them before grinning widely and shouting. "GET IN, LOSERS! WE'RE GOING STARGAZING!"

"What." was all Freed was able to say.

Laxus was more expressive. "What the fuck?" he whispered, and then seemed to snap out of it right away when he shouted back. "IS THAT YOUR TRUCK?!"

"NO!" Mira looked very proud of herself. "I STOLE IT!"

"You what?!" Freed looked scandalized.

"I STOLE IT FROM MY SHITTY FOSTER PARENT!"

Oh.

That sounds right on her brand, alright. Mirajane Strauss, Miss Steal-Your-Truck.

This time Mira waved at them impatiently. "Come with me if you wanna be awesome!"

"I know we were in the middle of a… something." Laxus said, looking at Freed. "But it's a truck, Freed. You want to ride on a truck. Admit it."

"It does sound tempting." Freed agreed.

"What're we waiting for?" Laxus asked, already beginning to climb out via the window.

Freed quickly grabbed his arm. "Oh no, you don't. We're using the front door. Like sane people do. Wait, I'm not dressed."

"Freed, you're wearing a shirt, and pants. You're dressed. Just put on some shoes."

Freed looked down at himself… then realized that Laxus was right, he was dressed decently enough… Besides, Mira might throw a tantrum if they make her wait too long. "Let me grab my things."

He grabbed his favorite red jacket, his phone, his wallet, and a pair of comfortable shoes. He was heading for the bedroom door when Laxus reached out and held on to his wrist. "Wait, Freed-"

He turned around to face the taller teen. "Yes? What-" Freed got cut off when Laxus leaned down to kiss his lips. Freed returned it despite his initial surprise, and only blinked up curiously when Laxus withdrew. "What was that about?"

"A good concluding paragraph." was all Laxus said, before taking Freed by the shoulders, turning him around and nudging him towards the door. "Now let's go, or Strauss will start making a racket again."

Freed said nothing as he led Laxus out the bedroom, down the staircase, and towards the house's front door.

Just before they could leave the house, they were stopped when some called after Freed.

"Young master, are you leaving?" the housemaid asked, clearly surprised. "Dinner's almost ready and- Oh, we didn't know you had a guest!"

Freed swallowed nervously before answering. "Um… I'm going out. I'll… eat out, too. Sorry I forgot to tell you."

"V-Very well…" the maid replied, looking faint. She eyed both teens warily. "What should I tell your parents, when they ask? Do they know about your… plans?"

Laxus spoke up, casually draping an arm around Freed's shoulders. "You tell Mr. and Mrs. Justine that Freed went to eat dinner and hang out with his friends."

Before the maid could say any further, the boys were out the door.

Technically, there should only be two people in the front of the truck. The driver, and the passenger. But Freed and Laxus somehow managed to squeeze in together in the passenger seat of Mira's marvelous stolen truck. They had to thank the seat for being bigger than normal ones.

"How did you find my house?" was the first thing Freed asked as Mira began driving.

"Are you kidding me?" Mira looked at him pointedly. "I just had to ask around where the Justines live, and everyone knows you."

"Yeah, that's how I found 'ya too." Laxus said.

"So… what are we doing again?" Freed continued with his inquiries.

"Toldja. Stargazing." Mira answered, grinning.

"Why?"

"Because the stars should be lovely tonight! You'll see! I got some cheap ol' telescope from the garage and cleaned it up." the girl said excitedly, then seemed to remember something she missed. "Or maybe it was 'cause some bastard - I'm not naming names - but  _Dreyar_  sent me a pic of your sleeping face earlier and I just thought… dang, they're having a good time. I gotta finish my chores and maybe cockblock."

Freed glared at Laxus. "You took a photo of me sleeping?"

"Your sleeping face was adorable." Laxus said unapologetically. "I thought I'd lord it over Angelface here that I saw it in person."

Freed looked at him in resignation.

Mira continued. "He also told me something like…  _'Hey, Freed's upset. Send him a stupid joke or something.'_  Hah! So lame! He doesn't even know how to cheer you up, like, does he even try? He's so baaaad at this-" she clicked her tongue, about to go on ranting about Laxus's incompetence but it made her pause and blink when she glanced at them and caught them sharing a look. "Something's up."

"What?" Freed turned to look at her. He was too distracted to mind when Laxus snuck an arm around him and began whistling some kind of cheerful tune. They were already sharing a seat anyway, and he felt warm and snug pressed up against the guy. It was more comfortable than the stuffy halfway-broken seatbelt that they both gave up trying to understand after the first minute.

"Did you two hook up?" Mira asked, her expression that of terror.

"No!" Freed exclaimed all-too quickly and half-heartedly smacked Laxus's arm when the blonde began laughing. "I mean, not really-" then he gave up and sighed. "A bit."

Mira shook her head, but kept her eyes on the road. "Freed, your choices are very questionable. We talked about this. There's a lot of decent people out there you could be letting into your bed and kissing and having sex with. Dreyar is not one of them."

"It's one time." Freed pouted. "Don't judge me."

"Ah, he sucks in bed, does he?" Mira sniggered. "I knew it, he's all talk."

"Hey, I'm right here. And since when did you two start hanging out?" Laxus asked.

"Whenever you're not looking." Mira shot back with a frown. "But I see you're using the same strategy."

"Well, if it's any comfort, we didn't get that far because SOMEONE interrupted."

"We weren't planning to go that far." Freed added sharply.

Laxus nodded. "Yeah, we're taking it slow-"

Freed raised an eyebrow. "We were taking it somewhere?"

The blonde made a face. "Now, don't say that..."

"Laxus, your puppy face is so weird. I swear. Just don't do it."

Mira whistled. "Destroy him, babe. I support you." Then she reached over to turn the car stereo on. "Anyway, I'll just pretend I didn't hear all that. Let's play some music in this ugly truck."

They found a radio station that was playing loud rock music, and Mira turned the volume up with a satisfied grin.

Freed shook his head as Laxus started head-banging and Mira sang along loudly to the music. He mumbled, "I'm in so much trouble."

"What d'you say?!" Mira asked, loud enough to be heard over the music.

Freed also had to shout to make himself heard. "I SAID I'M IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!"

They both laughed, and despite himself, Freed laughed with them. He didn't resist when Mira reached out to ruffle his hair.

"Don't worry, Justine! We gotcha!" she said, beaming and shoving a confident thumbs up to his face.

He rolled his eyes but let out an amused smile. He leaned back against Laxus, who had rolled the windows down and was enjoying the breeze against his face.

Mira started singing again. This time, Freed joined in.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Between the three of them, no one remembered that they actually have NO IDEA on how to operate a telescope.
> 
> Oh well, the stars were still beautiful.


	7. Honeypot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> QUICK SILLY SPY AU BECAUSE WHY NOT?

Bixlow almost spit out the coffee he was drinking when he heard the tell-tale static crack from his headphones. He quickly whirled around to face his computer just as he heard his partner's familiar voice from the other end of the line.

 _"Hey, B."_  - it was followed by a yawn. That was good, right? If Freed had time to yawn, that meant he wasn't compromised or captured or… well, dead.

"Freed! What happened, man?" Bixlow asked, pulling up his partner's stats, checking the other agent's location, vitals, condition... "You just went dark last night!"

_"I had to. I mean… that's the mission, right?"_

"Eh. Yeah, okay. You sound tired, though… I guess it's a success? Are you callin' me for extraction now?"

_"No. Mission's not complete yet."_

"…But you slept with him."

There was a pause. _"Err… yes."_

"You didn't get the data?"

_"There was a… situation. My hands were tied-"_

"He's into that, huh. All night, though? That can't be good if-"

_"I MEANT IT FIGURATIVELY. GOD. STOP."_

"Oh. Ohhh, okay. Right. Just please don't tell me you fell in love with Dreyar and that's why we're getting delayed on this job."

_"No. I'm not in love with Laxus."_

Freed sounded annoyed. It was great. Bixlow couldn't help but laugh teasingly. "First-name basis with the target, Agent Justine?"

There was a groan.  _"Just please shut up. I'm trying to explain here."_

"Go on, I'm listenin'." Bixlow was having a field day. Technically, he shouldn't be happy that the mission was getting delayed, but they didn't have a fixed deadline, anyway. They can take their time.

Besides, it's not often that he has something to tease the best spy in their agency with. He's gonna make the most out of this.

_"I was able to secure the target last night, but there was… intervention."_

"Intervention? What, additional security? Something we didn't know about?"

_"There was another person. With us."_

Bixlow paused, letting the information sink in. When he figured that Freed was waiting for a cue, he let out a dumbfounded "...Dude."

_"You know her."_

Bixlow fell silent.  _'Her'?_  Who? He had nothing, and it was too early in the morning to use his brain, really. "I don't wanna guess. Who?"

_"It's Mira."_

"Mira who?"

_"Mirajane."_

"Wait. Back up. BACK THE HELL UP BRO. STRAUSS?"

_"Yup."_

"MIRAJANE STRAUSS."

_"Yes."_

"Mirajane Strauss?! Hail Hydra?!"

_"Please get over that movie. But yes, it's her. And we had the same target-"_

"Dreyar?"

_"No, the data!"_

"So technically, Dreyar."

A sigh.  _"Okay. Technically, him."_

"Wait wait wait wait are you saying what I think you're saying?"

_"Yes."_

"You actually called it quits with your sworn enemy and you both-… Bro. BRO."

_"You're seriously asking about THAT part? Because we have a bigger problem than whether or not I enjoyed sleeping with two people last night."_

"What's that?"

_"Laxus knows."_

"That you're an agent?"

_"Yes. I don't know how. He knew that we were both after his top secret files and-"_

"-AND HE STILL INVITED YOU TO HIS BED HAH I LIKE THIS GUY-"

_"-shut up, he said we'll never find it."_

"So you just gave up and decided to have a good time? Both you AND Strauss?"

There was a very long pause.

"Holy shit, I'm right, am I. That's what happened. HOLY SHIT."

"Well… the bed's really nice."

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PARTNER?!" - then Bixlow realized something as he stared at the data in his monitor. "Wait, you're still there? At his house?"

 _"Yup."_  came the answer, and Bixlow wanted to bang his head against his desk. What has the world become?  _"Hang on, Mira needs help with her dress."_

"SHE'S BEEN THERE ALL THIS TIME?"

_"Yeah. I mean… we both got busted already. What's even the point?"_

Bixlow buried his head in his hands. He groaned when he heard someone in the background call out, _"Hey, super spies, breakfast's ready."_

There was a soft, female voice that followed as well:  _"Hmm, I smell bacon!"_

Dreyar even cooked breakfast for them. The spies who tried to get into his company's top secret files by seducing him. He's giving them bacon. Unbelievable.

Bixlow looked at the office ceiling, breathing deeply. What will he even tell their boss? Shaking his head in resignation, he just addressed his partner one last time.

"Dude. Y'know what, I won't write the report for this. You do it."

_"Wait-"_

He grabbed his mug, took a sip and cheerfully said "Enjoy your breakfast!" before hanging up.

.


	8. Detention pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liked the Detention AU (chap 6) too much and decided to write a quick follow-up.
> 
> So here's a... kinda unexpected bonus of sorts. Part two! Freed and Laxus and Mira hang out again.

"So is Dreyar, like, your boyfriend now?"

The question made Freed pause in the middle of putting his books back in his locker. He looked at the person who asked the question and blinked.

Freed wasn't, in any way, close to Bixlow. Bixlow was just that tall noisy guy who knew everyone in their year, who Freed shared a lot of classes with, and whose locker was next to his. Bixlow was always sensible enough to casually but politely ask Freed for notes whenever he missed something, or advice whenever he was finding a lesson difficult. He's an okay guy. Sometimes he hung around Freed during lunch breaks.

Okay. Bixlow probably considered him a friend.

And…  _fine_. Maybe Freed considered Bixlow some kind of friend, too.

So in a perfectly even voice, he asked, "What made you think that?"

"Um…" Bixlow scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I saw you two together this morning."

Freed turned back to his task, tucking the last book in his locker. Neatly, in alphabetical order, in pristine condition, no pages creased. Laxus was indeed around that morning. He crept up behind a quiet, timid Freed to surprise him and laughed when Freed yelped. He teased Freed for looking like he hasn't slept. Freed pouted and said that it was Laxus and Mira who took him stargazing on a damn Sunday night in the first place. Then Laxus just shrugged, ruffled Freed's hair, waited for him to finish fussing over his locker, and then walked him to his classroom.

Now that Freed thought about it, that indeed looked suspect.

But the facts remain and that's just what he gave Bixlow - "He's not my boyfriend."

"Huh." Bixlow nodded easily. "Okay." He watched as Freed closed his locker. "But he likes you?"

"That's what he says."

"Wow."

Freed locked his unit and noticed that his companion was just leaning against his own locker patiently. "Were you waiting for me?"

Bixlow nodded. "I'm doing the required reading for Lit and… all the sentences are so long and it's so boring?"

Freed eyed the book that Bixlow was holding before he sighed. "Fine, let's go over it while eating lunch."

.

* * *

.

"What about Strauss?"

Was Bixlow's question the next day. Freed raised an eyebrow. "Which Strauss?"

This time, Bixlow snorted. "You know the one."

"What about Mira?" Freed asked back, flipping through a book to find a piece of paper he was certain he slipped in between the pages for safekeeping.

"You hang out with her too?"

Bixlow was there the day prior, when Mira found Freed after classes, clinging to his arm as she asked if they'll go home together. Bixlow could only wave dumbly when the two of them walked off.

"A bit." Freed answered with a shrug, finding the sheet he was looking for and then tucking the book back in his locker again. "We take the same bus home."

"Are they as scary as everyone else says? Dreyar and Strauss?"

Freed almost laughed. "No, they're both dorks."

Bixlow stared at him. "No way." When Freed just looked back at him, he shook his head. "Really?" A nod. "Wow."

"You've been saying that a lot these days."

Bixlow blinked. "Well, you've been weird lately."

Freed raised an eyebrow. "Weird?"

"W-Well, not weird? Different, I guess?"

"What do you mean?"

Bixlow just shrugged. "You're more smiley."

It was Freed's turn to stare. "No." Before Bixlow could tease him further, he added. "That's cheesy, even for you."

"But you are!"

"Nope." Freed said, but it was too late, he was already finding it hard to maintain a grumpy face.

Bixlow grinned, seeing his friend trying not to smile. "Look at you! See?"

"W-What, I'm-... You're wrong." Freed insisted, turning away to hide the grin growing on his face. Dammit, it wasn't even funny! Why was he smiling?!

"You're smiling!" Bixlow laughed. "Which one of 'em d'you like? Eh, eh?"

"Shut up." Freed shook his head, proceeding to walk ahead towards the cafeteria. "If you want me to keep helping you with Lit."

"You like them!" Bixlow insisted cheerfully as he caught up with the shorter teen. "They're both delinquents! This is bonkers, Freed!"

Freed rolled his eyes, and was barely able to hold himself back from saying _'I know.'_

.

* * *

.

As much as Freed would say it was indeed crazy, how he suddenly had the two top problem students of his year hanging around with him, he would also have to admit that it was… kinda… nice.

Laxus would find him randomly at school, nonchalantly walking with Freed to wherever he was going, or if Freed was in the library, just sitting quietly, reading something or sleeping.

Mira made the bus rides home less boring, with her constant chatter and occasional questions about her annoying math homework.

On top of that, despite nothing much changing at school, the text messages were constants. It was not what Freed was used to, but he found that he didn't mind so much.

Laxus liked sending Freed pictures of Raijin doing cute things.  _"I dunno anyone else who'll like them."_  he had claimed.

And Mira sends puns. _"'Cause I imagine your face and I just know you look SO DONE and it's HILARIOUS."_

More than once, Mira teased Freed for  _"having a ton of Laxus' duck pics"_.

**_['Oh my God, Mira. Please.']_ **

_['DUCK PICS FREED DUCK PICS A TON OF PICS OF DREYARS DUCK']_

**_['Don't say it like that.']_ **

_['srsly tho it still cracks me up']_

**_['You're one typo away from a very horrifying idea.']_ **

_['i know thats why its so funny']_

Freed would have to agree with Bixlow - it was weird. It was weird because it was so easy. And it shouldn't be! He barely had anything in common with either Mira or Laxus and they shouldn't get along so well and yet they still somehow do.

Weird. And… well… nice. Freed settled for that word. It was nice.

That's what he told himself that Saturday afternoon as he sat beside Laxus on the blonde's bed, both of them focused on their phones and tapping frantically.

"How long do we have to be on this?" Freed asked, brows furrowed in concentration, hardly keeping up with the chaos on his screen.

Laxus was in no better state. "Until Angelface comes back or- Shit, I'm dying!"

"Hang on, I think I have an elixir-"

"Watch out-"

"Oh, crap."

"Fuck."

They both stopped tapping as they watched their screens dim, the words _'YOU LOSE'_  mocking them. They watched as the remaining characters on the screen wreaked havoc on the base they were supposed to be protecting.

"Mira is not going to be happy." Freed mumbled looking at his companion.

"We tried." Laxus shrugged as he let his phone fall beside him. "It's her fault for leaving her turf's defense in the hands of two total noobs before disappearing. In the middle of battle."

"That's true, I guess. And we managed to hold out for... an hour?" he looked down at his phone again, noticed that his character has respawned, and began tapping to assess the damage. Yep. Mira will definitely be out for blood when she sees this. He pouted. "I suck at these things."

Laxus only chuckled and leaned forward, tucking his chin on the other teen's shoulder. "So I guess you ain't perfect after all?"

Freed snorted, about to say a retort but ended up squirming as the blonde nuzzled at his neck. "Hey, that tickles!" he exclaimed, holding back a laugh.

"More reason to continue." Laxus mumbled, grinning as he wrapped his arms around Freed.

"Stop, I'm trying to salvage what's left of the base!" Freed insisted, squirming hard enough to free his arms so he can go back to the game.

Laxus loosened his grip to look at the screen over Freed's shoulder. "They left stuff?"

"More like they didn't take some stuff." Freed said.

"Huh." was all Laxus said, not letting go and settling to quietly watch Freed 'clean up' in the game. Freed leaned his back against Laxus' chest, starting to enjoy the strong, warm arms wrapped around him. He could get used to this, being held, not always feeling alone. It was comfortable. It was easy.

They didn't really talk about it. Laxus just asked him if he wanted to hang out. Freed thought it fair that it was him who would go to Laxus' house this time. Laxus' grandfather was surprised, but was a very pleasant host, and he told the boys to have fun as they went up to Laxus' room. The afternoon started with Laxus reading the book that Freed lent him while Freed, for a change of pace, picked a comic book volume from Laxus's shelf.

Then Mira called them, practically begging them to download an app on their phones and help her in the game because she had to go offline, there was a battle coming, and for some reason her teammates were gone.

For once, the two humored her… only to fail spectacularly.

And now...

Freed was pretty sure this counted as cuddling.

He's not sure why they always end up cuddling.

But he's got an idea on why he doesn't exactly mind.

There was nothing left to do in the game, so he exited the app and put his phone down. He tilted his head slightly to look at Laxus. "What now?"

"Uh, we go back to reading?"

They looked at the comic book and the novel, both of which lay abandoned by their feet.

"I'm not really in the mood anymore." Freed said, frowning slightly.

Laxus grunted in agreement. He blinked when Freed shifted to face him. The shorter teen looked down for a moment, clearly thinking about his next words. "So, umm… I have… a question."

"What?" Laxus asked.

Freed somehow thought that he should do something, so he reached out to hold his companion's hand awkwardly.

Laxus raised an eyebrow but didn't withdraw. "Man, we're not dating yet and it already sounds like you're breaking up with me."

Freed rolled his eyes, chuckling. Despite that, the distraction worked like a charm to ease the tension. He found it in himself to ask, "Does… Does your grandfather know?"

"Does gramps know what?"

"That you like boys?"

Laxus blinked, before leaning back against the wall, contemplating. "Err, I didn't… exactly… come out."

"What do you mean?"

"The first time, I just straight up told him that I've been kissing a boy from school, and he asked, 'is it serious?' so I said, 'not really, just fooling around' and he said, 'okay, be nice to each other and don't get into trouble' and that was that." he said in a breath, looking straight at Freed to assess his reaction.

Freed gaped. "R-Really?"

"Yeah." he nodded, chuckling lightly at the memory. Freed felt Laxus twine their fingers together. "And before you came over, I just told him 'there's this guy I like, I invited him to come over today' and he just told me to make sure to buy some snacks for us."

Freed looked down at their twined hands. "Oh. That's… that's great, you grandfather sounds great."

"Yeah." Laxus nodded, but noted that Freed was looking down and frowning. "What is it?"

"My parents… they…" he swallowed first, thinking of how to say his next words. "About last week when I went with you and Mira?"

"Yeah, you never did tell us what happened."

"They're not happy I stayed out so late, and they asked who I was with, if I was with a boy… I guess they actually remembered to be concerned about that part." he laughed bitterly. "Of course I said I was with two friends. But they told me we'll have to talk about it soon, when they're not too busy anymore."

"So… you haven't talked about it with them."

"Not yet." Freed answered. "And now I'm all nervous, 'cause it could literally happen any day."

Laxus looked at him closely, studying his expression.

Freed didn't look back, instead he looked way too interested in their hands, or the bedsheets. Or anything but his companion.

Laxus wasn't one for pep talks - he sucked at those (like he always says, he hates essays) but he can come up with a distraction. A joke. Something else. So he grinned and said, "I like you, but don't date me to piss your parents off, will 'ya? That's too dramatic. We can think of other ways."

Freed chuckled and rolled his eyes. "As if, Scarface."

"Hey, what? You're picking up language from Strauss?" Laxus teased, his hands snaking around Freed's waist again as he pulled the other teen closer.

"I'm serious." Freed sighed, but he was smiling. Sheepishly, he clung to Laxus's shirt and continued, "I won't date you just to get a reaction from anyone." He looked up. "Or at least, the only one I want to get a reaction from is you."

Laxus fell silent.

Freed looked at him expectantly, as if to say, _'Yes. I just said that. Please say something.'_

"Real smooth, Justine." Laxus said, amused. "I'm going to kiss you now, if you're fine with that."

He waited for Freed to smile and nod and wrap slender arms around his neck before he moved.

Kissing was nice, Freed had also decided. Not in the  _'oh-my-God-why-did-I-never-do-this-before'_  way, but in the  _'I-really-like-doing-this-new-thing-with-this-person'_  way. That's how he realized, really, that he'd like to kiss Laxus not just for experience points, but just for the sake of kissing Laxus.

Then, of course, the door swung loudly open, and a familiar female voice shrieked, "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BASE?!"

They broke away from the kiss, but didn't move away from each other.

As if it was a perfectly normal occurrence for a screaming girl to barge in while they were kissing and they're only stopping because they need to use their mouths for other things. Like sighing and asking, "Mira, why are you here?"

Mira shrugged as she closed the door behind her. "Grandpa Dreyar said you were here so I came here."

"Do you know about this concept called 'knocking'?" Laxus asked, at this point in resignation. They shifted so they can both talk properly to Mira. "It was invented a couple centuries ago, still widely used in present time."

"Surprise!" she beamed, then as quick as that happened, she frowned deeply. "Wait. Did you two lose the battle because you were busy making out?"

Laxus huffed. "No, we lost the stupid game before we started making out."

Mira grumbled as she kicked her shoes off and joined them to sit on the bed. She looked at the abandoned books by their feet and then brushed those away to make space for herself. She dropped her phone in the mattress in front of her. "I expected better from both of you, you looked like you knew how to play a good game!"

"We're noobs." Laxus said bluntly. "We told you."

"We're just really bad at it." Freed nodded.

Mira frowned. "You were a Rune Mage, and a Lightning Dragon Slayer. Those are two really badass character types, so I thought you knew what you were doing."

The two looked at each other before both shrugging at her.

"I just thought it looked cool." Laxus mumbled.

"I liked the outfit." Freed added sheepishly.

Mira rubbed her temples and groaned.

"We managed to save some gems and a little gold, if it makes any difference." Freed chimed in, taking his phone, tapping and swiping and then handing the device to Mira.

Mira looked despairingly at the screen. "Weeks of hard work…! All reduced to this!"

"Just work on it again, build a better one." Laxus said with a scoff. "Why'd you have to go offline, anyway?"

"Shit." the girl cursed, giving Freed's phone back. "It's terrible. It's the fucking worst. Worse than your performance on Magic Guild Clash Online."

Laxus looked at her, unimpressed. "Did you die? Because we died."

"It's the same as dying!" Mira despaired. "Worse than dying!"

The two exchanged looks before turning back to her.

"F-dad found my fake ID and took it and hid it."

They stared.

Mira looked back at them, expecting a reaction. When they didn't budge, she decided to elaborate. "I was planning to sneak out tonight. I was gonna go to Cana, we're supposed to go to a bar and hang out and dance together! Now that's impossible because I have no ID, F-dad has it. And no truck because he hid the keys too."

Freed spoke up. "Um, just curious - do you have a license? An actual driving license, not a fake one?"

Mira shrugged. They took that as a no.

"So…" Freed started, confused. "You're upset because your foster guardian stopped you from doing at least two illegal things tonight. I mean, yes, maybe he's a horrible person, but that move's pretty practical."

Mira scoffed. "It's not like I'm gonna get caught."

Laxus also decided to join in. "Technically, you did get caught. Just not by the police. Lucky you."

Mira groaned in frustration as she brought her hands to her face. "GUUUUYS. I HAVEN'T SEEN MY GIRLFRIEND! FOR A MONTH! AND NOW WE GOTTA TAKE A RAIN CHECK! AGAIN! SYMPATHIZE!"

"I have a question." Laxus said.

Mira glared at him.

He continued anyway. "Don't you have, I dunno, other friends? You can go to? To sulk about this? Ones who aren't busy doing other stuff, sorting out a potential relationship...?"

Freed looked at him pointedly but Mira grabbed him by the shoulders. "Freed, let me lie on your lap and cry!"

"W-What? Why me?"

It was too late, she had already launched herself at him, burying her face in his lap and clinging to his waist. "Because you're soft and pure and kind."

"I'm not, really." Freed insisted. "And Laxus is right, what about your other friends? I'm sure they can help you somehow, give more… meaningful advice-"

"I don't have friends, I have underlings! And they'll laugh at me for being miserable! But you! You're nice, Freed, and I believe in you!"

"Um. Thanks?" was all Freed was able to say, patting her head.

"And me?" Laxus asked as he watched the awkward display.

"You just happen to be here, loser."

"I fucking live here."

"Shut up. I miss my girlfriiieeeeennnndddd." Mira whined miserably. "Have I toldja how pretty she is? She's so gorgeous, Freed, and she's amazing."

"I'm sure she is. Gorgeous and amazing. And she misses you too." Freed reassured, this time resigned to his fate, running his fingers through her messy silver hair. She had let it down from her usual high ponytail.

"Really?" Laxus raised an eyebrow at them. "You're doing this here."

"Help a friend, Laxus." Freed advised.

Mira nodded, frowning up at him. "That's right. Listen to your new boyfriend, he'll make you into a better person. Lucky you."

Freed held back a laugh and watched as Laxus grabbed a pillow and chucked it at the girl.

Mira caught it easily and hit him back once before hugging it to herself. "I already told you how we met, right?"

"Yes, Mira, several times. On the bus rides home."

"Me and Elf and Lisanna were staying in a foster home for a bit while the papers are being sorted out and Cana was there and she's so beautiful. And then-"

Freed sighed, by now able to re-tell the story with her. "-she came up to you and said Hey-"

"- _what's a nice place like you doing in a girl like this?_ "

"-and it made you laugh even though you were having a bad day."

"A shitty day. But yes. And she laughed with me and I'm down. I'M DOWN, FREED."

"Yes, you are. And you're-"

"-never getting up."

"Um." Laxus interrupted. "You do know… that… she was quoting Deadpool, right?"

They looked at him.

"You mean she hit on me by quoting Deadpool?" Mira said, blinking.

Laxus nodded. "Yup. Pretty sure that was a line from the movie."

Mira looked at Freed and then grabbed his arms and made a strangled noise before exclaiming, "HOLY SHIT, I JUST FELL IN LOVE WITH HER ALL OVER AGAIN!"

Laxus just shook his head while Freed laughed.

"Nice room, by the way!" she told Laxus, moving to lie on her side so she can look around the room while still using Freed's lap as her pillow. She seemed to have cheered up a bit. "How long 'till your grandpa sends us home?"

Laxus reached over to grab the books scattered in the bed and set them aside. "He won't. He loves sad kids and will let you guys stay over until your parents come calling. But then he'll talk to them and probably try and fix all your family's problems for you."

"Can he adopt me and my siblings?" Mira sniggered. "What does he do anyway?"

"College counselor." Laxus answered, leaning back and watching idly as Freed started a small braid in Mira's hair. "But he used to work in our school. S'why I couldn't get out of detention last time. The counselor guy knows gramps."

"He's really nice." Freed said softly, starting another braid in Mira's hair.

"Makes you wonder who Scarface took after, huh?" Mira teased.

Laxus scoffed and moved to ruffle her hair but Freed swat his hand away with a pout. "Laxus, no, you'll ruin it."

"Seriously, Freed, we could spend the afternoon making out but what are you doing? You're braiding someone else's hai- Whoa, that's neat, how'd you do that?"

Freed blinked at him. "It's a braid."

"It looks different."

That got Mira's attention. "Is it pretty?"

"It's… something." Laxus squinted. "Yeah, I guess it is?"

"I bet it's pretty!" Mira exclaimed, beaming as she sat up. "Do my hair, Freed."

"All of it?" Freed blinked while Mira turned and sat obediently in front of him, brushing her long hair back from her shoulders so they all fell neatly down her back.

"Yeah, go crazy!"

Laxus watched as Freed combed the silver hair with his fingers, undoing the first two braids to do them over properly. He looked contemplative.

"Is this how you normally deal with your girlfriend problems?" the blonde asked.

"It could be worse. It would be a waste if she cut her hair instead." Freed remarked, already starting to part the silver locks into several sections. "Mira, how many hair ties do you have?"

"One?" she answered, looking at the scrunchie on her wrist. "Oh. Wait-" The girl shoved her hands in the pocket of her shorts, biting her lip as she dug for something and then took out several small items. "Here. Uh, three- four. Four tiny ones. And some bobby pins."

Freed smiled lightly as he started braiding. Laxus yawned and leaned forward, letting his head drop on Freed's shoulder. Freed finished a small braid and offered the end to him. "Hold this, please."

Laxus wordlessly obeyed, taking the braid and holding it up while Freed started on a new one.

"What'll it look like when you finish?" Laxus asked when he was unable to think of anything else to say.

"Well, there will be small braids in the sides, and then we gather them up in the middle-"

"No, no, surprise me!" Mira insisted, cutting them off.

Laxus grumbled incoherently about loud obnoxious girls as he accepted another braid from Freed. He blinked. That was fast. "You're good at this."

"I googled some braid hairstyles one time, and I liked some of them… I watched some of the videos, but it's impossible for me to do them for my hair by myself." Freed explained distractedly.

"I wanna say I'll braid your hair when you're done with mine but I suck at it and I bet it'll look horrible." Mira said.

"Yeah, don't touch his hair, no mortal deserves to touch his beautiful, perfect hair." Laxus said, earning an elbow from Freed. "Ow. Stingy. I was complimenting you." Nevertheless, he accepted yet another braid and held it dutifully in place.

It was after three more braids that Laxus spoke up again.

"Hey Angelface, you said you haven't seen your girlfriend in weeks, right?"

Mira was about to turn to look at him but remembered that Freed was working on her hair, so she just said, "Yeah, and it sucks."

"You can't just… I dunno, go online and video call or something?"

Silence.

"Fuck." Mira whispered.

Laxus sat up straight. "Seriously?"

"You never thought of that?" Freed asked, actually sounding concerned.

"Scarface, what's your wi-fi password?" she asked, whipping her phone out again and entering the passcode.

Laxus sighed as he transferred the braids he was holding on to in one hand so he can take her phone with the other and connect to the house's internet connection. He gave the gadget back with a sullen "Have fun."

Mira was practically bouncing as she tapped furiously in her phone. She laughed. "Oh, wow."

"What?"

"Dreyar, you've got a Pikachu on your room!"

"What the hell."

"I'm gonna catch it."

"Don't, that's my roommate." Laxus said, earning an amused chuckle from Freed. "And why're you on Pokemon Go? Go call your girl and be less miserable."

"Holy shit, stop being nice to me. It's weird."

"I'm not being nice, you're just being insufferable."

Freed took one of the braids from Laxus. "You guys actually like each other, don't you? You're just both too proud to admit it."

"HELL NO."

"I HATE HER."

"It's cute." Freed said, making both of his companions glower at each other some more. Then with Laxus's help, he began arranging the braids from the side of Mira's head and gathering them in the middle to form what looked like a rose or some kind of flower. He used the hair ties and bobby pins to hold the braids in place as best as he can, all while Mira was busy texting her girlfriend to tell her that they should just Skype each other.

Freed crossed his arms across his chest as he looked at his work proudly. "Finished." he announced.

Laxus whistled. "That's some solid hair voodoo shit you did there." He was about to poke the flower braid but Freed grabbed his hand before he could. He complained, "Whaaaat, it looked so soft."

This also distracted Mira from her texting. "Is it done?! How does it look? Is it pretty?!"

"Stop moving around, please." Freed said as he raised his phone to take a photo. Mira stopped at once, but as soon as she heard the clicking sound of the phone camera, she turned again and pounced at the gadget in Freed's hand.

She practically shrieked. "IT'S BEAUTIFUL!" She looked at the photo again, one hand ghosting lightly over the delicate hairstyle at the back of her head. "My sister would love this. So much." Mira beamed. "Freed, you're amazing."

Freed smiled back. "Thank you."

She leaned forward to throw her hands around Freed's neck and give him a warm hug.

"I helped." Laxus said.

Mira narrowed her eyes at him but offered a fisted hand out anyway. Laxus blinked at it once before bumping his fist against hers awkwardly.

That was when her phone began ringing, and the three of them looked down to see the call alert.

Or actually. A video call alert.

The caller's name was  _'CANA'_  tailed by a string of heart emojis in different colors.

"How do I look?" Mira asked them, adjusting her red crop top and then her torn jean shorts. Then she ran her hands to drape some of her hair nicely over her shoulders.

Laxus shrugged. Freed just smiled.

Coming from the two of them, that was probably positive feedback.

So Mira picked up her phone and finally answered. She turned her back to both of the boys as she held her phone out in front of her, so she can capture all three of them in her phone's front camera.

Both Freed and Laxus curiously leaned forward to get a better view of the brunette on the phone's screen. Cana blinked and squinted at her camera while brushing back long dark brown curls. She broke into a smile then, probably as she saw the video load in her screen.

 _"Hey, babe!"_  she greeted with a lively grin.  _"What's up? You never video call, you said your internet at home sucks."_

"I know, but I'm not there right now!" Mira beamed back.

 _"Oh, yeah, that's definitely not Lis and Elf."_  Cana chuckled as she looked closer at the two awkward guys peeking from behind her girlfriend.  _"Who're they? Why're they hiding? Are they shy?"_

Mira adjusted her phone to give the other girl a better view of her companions, starting with Freed. "Yeah, well this one's Freed. He's adorable and wholesome and all things good and pure. Say hi, Freed!"

Freed rolled his eyes at her but smiled at Cana anyway. "Hi, it's nice to meet you."

Cana looked like she realized something before she promptly squealed.  _"Oh, hello! You're Trigonometry boy! Right? Am I right?"_

Freed raised an eyebrow before answering in a small voice. For some reason, even through the phone screen, the brunette managed to smother him. "Umm… I guess so?"

_"Mira, you're right, he's adorable!"_

"See?!" Mira said, then pointed the camera back to herself, with Laxus in the background this time. "Oh, and that's Laxus Dreyar. We're in his room so I guess he's here too."

"Wow." Laxus drawled. "This is how you repay my hospitality and good wi-fi?"

Cana looked contemplative as she evaluated the guy.  _"He's kinda hot."_

"It's the scar." Mira explained. "And the abs. Fine, and the shoulders. Maybe. He's got that nice 'bad boy' jerk look that makes him drool-worthy- I SAW THAT. DREYAR, DID YOU JUST WINK AT MY GIRLFRIEND. FROM BEHIND ME?"

Laxus smirked the most unapologetic smirk Mira has ever seen. "She liked it."

Cana was in hysterics, but she managed to send a wink back.  _"Hell yeah, I like it."_

"How are you guys not embarrassed by everything you do?" Freed mumbled, shaking his head at the exchange. He can never picture himself winking at someone. Anyone. Never. Ever. God, he's such an awkward potato.

Mira just pretended to scold her girlfriend. "No. Babe. We don't like him."

Cana faked a gasp. _"Why? Is he taken? LAXUS, ARE YOU TAKEN."_

Laxus glanced at Freed before saying, "A bit."

"About 30 percent." Freed provided.

"Hey, make that 75, at least!" Laxus argued sullenly.

"Maybe 50."

"60?" Laxus tried.

"Okay, 60."

Laxus accepted that before turning back to Cana. "There you go. I'm 60 percent taken."

 _"You planning to share the remaining 40?"_  Cana asked.

"Nah, it's kinda insured already."

"Awwwwww!" came from both girls.

What the fuck did he get himself into? He shouldn't have let Goddamn Mirajane Strauss connect to his wi-fi. But what did he expect, anyway? Of course Strauss' girlfriend would be just as insane as her.

At least she seems nice. So chill. Actually, too chill.

But damn, were they tight. Seriously. Mira's smile right now? Laxus already thought she smiles too brightly and sweetly at Freed - she's somehow really fond of Freed like that, and has decided that she will protect the boy from  _'Dreyar's corrupting presence'_  - but this time she was just plain blinding. There was too much adoration and genuine happiness in her face as she talked to Cana about making plans to meet up, ones that don't involve dealing with shitty foster parents and illegal IDs. And from the way Cana smiled back and listened with a grin, it was clear that she was… well, she was down. Whipped. Too damn lovesick. Sure, both girls flirt shamelessly with others but they're obviously very much into each other.

Laxus blinked when he felt a light tug in his sleeve, and he turned to look at Freed who leaned over and whispered something in his ear.

"Let's give them some space."

Laxus would normally complain that _'no, THEY should get out, this is MY room, THEY should be giving US our space'_ , but Freed smiled at him and shit, they're 60 percent together, and there's the remaining 40 percent somehow and Laxus was gonna get that remaining 40, or so help him.

So he slid off the bed, pulling Freed with him by the hand.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" Mira asked, distracted. They could also see that Cana was looking at them curiously.

"Gettin' some snacks." Laxus said, opening the door and letting Freed walk out first. "Gramps will freak if he finds out I didn't feed you while you're here and I'll never hear the end of it."

"Oh. Okay." Mira nodded, then turned back to Cana and started talking.

Laxus caught the last bits of their conversation as they left - Mira was showing off her pretty hairdo to a gushing, adoring Cana.

Freed waited for him to catch up before they made their way down the hallway side by side.

"So, uh..." Laxus started, consciously brushing his fingers against Freed's. When Freed brushed them back, he finally took Freed's hand in his. "What do I have to do for that remaining 40 percent?"

They've reached the staircase by then, but the question made Freed stop, two steps behind Laxus, so when Laxus also stopped and turned to look at him, their faces were directly in front of each other's.

Freed averted his eyes as he answered. "Um… l-let me introduce you to my parents?"

"Your… parents." Laxus repeated. "Your parents who actually used the excuse that they're busy to hold off talking to you about somethin' very important 'bout yourself - those parents?"

Freed frowned. "But they ARE busy-"

"Bullshit. You're their kid - their only kid, they should've set aside everything else if they really want to give you whatever parent guidance they think you need."

"I know that, and I'm really… I'm really touched that you're upset on my behalf." Freed sighed before looking up and meeting Laxus's eyes. "And fine, maybe they're doing a bad job as parents in your book, maybe in my book too, but that doesn't mean I want to get back at them by sneaking around and rebelling? That's… I'm really not good at that? I'm not like Mira, or you."

Laxus shrugged, looking down. "So what do you want?"

"I want to do it properly. They might suck as parents, but I don't want to lie to them. So let me introduce you, so they'll know who I'm seeing and spending my time with."

"If they don't approve?"

"I'll make them."

Laxus raised an eyebrow. "...How?"

Freed looked at him before letting out a sheepish laugh. "I don't know, I'll wing it. Just… let's get there first, okay?"

Laxus grunted, but relented easily. "Fine, fine. Just tell me when, and I'll go."

"Promise me you'll-"

"-be nice to them. I'll even wear my normal jeans, the ones without rips."

Freed laughed and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "Thanks. 75 percent."

Laxus didn't hide the bemused grin on his face and he turned, tugging Freed's hand lightly. "Now let's go get those snacks before Angelface complains."

They continued their walk down the stairs. "Cana seems fun."

Laxus snorted. "They're annoying."

"You like them, though."

A pause.

"You do."

"...doesn't change the fact that they're annoying."

.

* * *

.

"So is Dreyar, like, your boyfriend now?"

The question made Freed pause as soon as he took his assigned seat in the classroom.

Freed wasn't, in any way, close to Evergreen. Evergreen was just his lab partner for this class and a fellow member of the library club. She was okay, and somehow tended to turn to him whenever she had to complain about someone else. She always had a decent point.

Fine. Maybe she was a friend, too.

"What made you think that?" he asked.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Please. He's been walking you to this classroom since last week and just now, I saw him kiss you on the cheek?"

Oh. Yeah, Laxus did that. Freed just gave his classmate a half-hearted shrug. "We're... getting there."

"Wow. Laxus Dreyar, huh. They say he's trouble, always gets into fights."

"I can testify that the only fight he got into this weekend was when we tried playing that silly Magic Guild Clash game. We both suck at it, but we can see the appeal."

"Uh-huh. You got a thing for problem students?"

Freed blinked. "What?"

"You've been hanging around Strauss too."

"We take the same bus home." Freed explained. "And I kinda help her in Trig." - and after a beat, he sighed. "And… fine, yes, we hang out on weekends a bit."

"Hm." was all Evergreen said, nodding. "That's nice."

This time, Freed smiled. "It is."

.

* * *

.

That afternoon, Freed didn't fall prey to Mira's surprise tackle-hug anymore, instead turning around just as Mira was about to attack, then smiling and asking her if they're taking the bus that day. She seemed disappointed that he'd grown used to her attacks, but nodded anyway. He was able to bid a decent goodbye to Bixlow by the lockers before he let Mira drag him towards the gates as usual.

Freed was busy checking his to-do list in his phone when Mira stopped walking, effectively anchoring him in place with her. Then he heard her whisper, "Holy shit." and he looked up.

There was a car by the school gates.

Laxus was standing by the car, talking to someone who looked vaguely familiar. A girl.

Freed narrowed his eyes as Laxus... actually... smiled? And then the girl giggled and poked the blonde's chest playfully. Freed frowned, before he realized - is he jealous? Heck no! He's totally not jealous - he doesn't have the right to be- Hold up, he does. That's his 75 percent boyfriend in there flirting with- okay, the girl turned and she saw them and Freed saw her face and oh. Okay. Holy shit, indeed.

It was Cana.

She beamed when she spotted them, waving both hands above her head. "Hey, Sexy!"

And that's when Mira squealed and Freed literally felt his eardrums break.

She abandoned Freed - or actually, Freed's arm - and took off to glomp at her girlfriend and both girls shrieked so loudly Laxus had to step back several steps.

It took a while, or until Freed sheepishly joined them, stepping up beside Laxus, for Mira and Cana to calm down.

"What's happening, why are you here?" Mira asked, pulling away for a while so she can look properly at the brunette.

"Surprise visit!" Cana winked, resting her hands on the other girl's waist. "You said we should meet up without usin' illegal IDs and stolen trucks, and I thought about it, and it just made me miss you more, specially after talkin' to you, so I decided I'd just come over today! Catch you after school!"

Mira was obviously touched and she cupped her girlfriend's cheeks. "Aw, that's so sweet."

"Yup." Cana nodded, then looked around and saw their other two companions. She turned to Mira again. "Oh! Listen. So I was waiting for you, right? And I was just watchin' the other people walk by and I saw Laxus and I thought  _'HEY I KNOW THAT GUY'_  and you should've seen it. I yelled _'PIKACHU!'_  and the dork actually looked."

Mira snorted and looked at Laxus, who just rolled his eyes. Freed was also obviously holding back a laugh. "Pikachu, huh?"

"Shut up." Laxus scoffed.

"So I called him over and we were talking and then you came! And Trig Boy! Freed!" Cana said, finishing her story. She grinned at Freed and waved a bit. "Hello! Oh, you're taller in person. And cuter in person. And your hair's brighter than in the phone, wow."

Freed smiled back warily. "Thanks."

"Wait. Cana." Mira said distractedly. "You have a car?"

"Pfft, babe, what're you saying? I don't even have a license. I don't even know how to drive!" Cana waved dismissively. Then she said, "I stole it."

"WHAT?!" - came from the other three before Freed and Laxus both looked pointedly at Mira because  _'how dare you react like that, who was it who stole a truck again?'_. Mira looked back at them and pouted, clearly saying  _'don't judge me'_.

Cana laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! It's from the repair shop, just got fixed and it's… out for a test drive."

Then they all turned when the window to the driver's seat rolled down and a young man just about their age, frowning, with dark hair and eyes, peered at them. "Hey, you found your girlfriend. Can I go back now?"

Mira blinked. "Oh, hi there, Gray."

"Hi, Mira." Gray said with a lazy salute, then looked at Cana again. "Look, I told your dad I'm taking this car on a test drive 'round the block, not to the next town. I really gotta go back now. At this rate, he won't even believe if I told him I took so long 'cause I grabbed a burger on my way."

"Fine, go." Cana sighed. "Thanks for the lift."

"Whatever." Gray grunted, starting the engine again. "Call me if you can't catch a decent ride home. That'll give me a good laugh." He didn't wait for her reply before driving off.

Cana shook her head as she watched the car speed down the road. "I know you'll pick me up! Take care! I love you! Forever! You're an angel!" she called out while she knew her best friend was still in earshot. Just to piss him off.

She meant it, though. Everything including the angel part, but she'll never admit that out loud.

"See?" Cana said, turning to the others again with a satisfied smile on her face. "Gray has a license, and he's got permission to take the car places! It's all very legal."

Mira looked at Freed and Laxus daringly.

"I can't argue with that." Freed shrugged.

"I literally don't give a shit." Laxus said.

Cana looked at them both appraisingly before looking at Mira and concluding, "They're very sweet. I love them already."

"Of course you do." Mira nodded.

The brunette finally beamed, bouncing on her feet. "So what now? I'm here, take me somewhere!"

Mira thought for a bit before beaming back excitedly. "I know a nice place!" Then she realized something and turned to Freed. "But- Uh-... you. The bus-"

Freed blinked once before realizing what she was worried about. "Oh. Don't worry about me! I am perfectly capable of riding the bus alone, thank you very much for your concern." he smiled softly. "You two should go."

"You can come with us." Cana offered. "Let's make it a double date."

Freed shifted awkwardly. "I don't really... go out on school nights..."

"And we agreed that we won't go on dates 'till his parents approve." Laxus added, making Freed look at him in surprise. He didn't expect Laxus to take it so seriously.

Cana whistled. Mira gaped. "What the fuck, Scarface, are you okay? I mean, not that I care about you or anything. I'm just. I never thought. I'd hear those words from you. Ever."

"Well, I still have some 25 percent pending before someone agrees to date me."

Mira looked at them pointedly. "Are you two seriously using numbers to determine your relationship status?"

Laxus smirked arrogantly at her. "We're both good at math."

Cana held back a snort. "He got you there, babe."

Mira narrowed her eyes and frowned but didn't say anything, knowing that she just lost the debate. "Nerds."

"Really, Mira, you two have fun." Freed piped up.

"And he won't be alone. I ride the bus too. I just don't do it when you're there." Laxus added.

"I really like him." Cana remarked with an amused smile.

"Okay, then! We're going! Thank you for your well-wishes, gentlemen." Mira said doing a mock curtsy before finally taking Cana's hand and stepping away.

Freed and Laxus just shrugged as the two girls started walking down the sidewalk.

"Take care, Freed! You're awesome!" Mira called out, pointing to them. "And Laxus, I- uh, I hate you less than usual!"

"You two be good kids!" Cana also gave them a friendly wave and a flying kiss.

Freed just chuckled and shook his head while Laxus just grumbled, "Ridiculous." under his breath.

"So," Freed started, looking up at Laxus. "Bus?"

Laxus nodded, and simply smiled when he felt his companion's hand take his. "Let's go."

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cana ended up sleeping in the Dreyars' couch. Gray picked her up in the morning.
> 
> Aaaaand that's it! This has been Ali, and I hope you enjoyed these short stories! Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has been cross-posted to my FF.Net account (@koa-chan).


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